Bling: Confessions of a King
by kaitou angel
Summary: Nana is best friends with a terrorist, a cyborg, and a schizophrenic. Somehow, they find themselves chasing after a galactic pirate with nothing more than the soles on their shoes and the Reikai Tantei at their throats. The LEFTALIVE project.
1. The Electioneer

**I'm such a bitch.**

**I think most of all that I love about this particular story is Yusuke's Alcohol Dictionary. It implies a lot about each character and what Yusuke really thinks about them (hahahahahahahahah Shrekarita) and it just shows how much thought he's put into it (and how much of an alcoholic he is). I love Hiei's the best. All the drink information is credited to Urban Dictionary or AKA Urban Dictionary . Com (without the spaces). I tried to make it like I wanted it to come out. But I feel like my writing was just forced towards the end. And the OC, I guess isn't really that much of an OC since she was modeled after Komatsu Nana from the anime NANA. She just has a completely different personality. Sort of. Anyway, go photobucket her if you want to know what she really looks like. WOW. I have no imagination. I suck. I thoroughly suck. Anyway. Hopefully the story's plot will unveil itself sooner or later.**

**Summary:** _He twitched at seeing the dead body carelessly strewn over the back of her stolen moped. She seemed a little shocked herself that it had landed there, the dim light accentuating her eyebrows which had shot to the top of her head, "Damn Hiei. Here I am hoping for a miracle, and all he's got on his mind is blowing everyone up."_

**Pairings: Hiei/OC, Yusuke/OC**

**What you SHOULD be listening to during this song: "The Electioneer" By Radiohead. It really sets the mood.**

…………………………………………………………..

**The Electioneer**

As someone great once said, "Never kill a fucking snake because, and I swear to fucking God, its best friend will come back to finish the job." It is high time someone took heed to that advice.

The heat outside was sweltering to the point of mirages appearing in the middle of the city, deterring traffic and causing all sorts of hell. A young woman stuck her head out the window of a faded tan '78 Camero watching a taxi cab driver argue with a pregnant woman, whose boobs were the size of grapefruits, which route was the fastest to the hospital. She screamed a threat that sounded something like, "If you don't make a left up here I swear to god I will give birth on your goddamn face! NOW GET ME TO THE HOSPITAL OR I'LL HAVE MY HUSBAND WHO IS A PROFESSIONAL MURDERER AND HAS A LISCENCE TO KILL ASSASSINATE YOU!" Clearly everyone was a little frustrated with the traffic jams coupled with 108 degree weather. But nothing Japan couldn't handle.

"Did you see that Arab guy just pull a knife on a pedestrian?" Avery grinned at her friend who was leaning out the window, "'Cause I just did."

"I always guessed Japan wouldn't have so many psychos living here," her friend replied lazily as she fanned herself with a stained Dairy Queen napkin.

"You'd be wrong." Avery muttered to herself, "I've only lived here a year and seen so much shit, it'd be a ticket straight to hell if I repeated any of it."

Avery wrenched her hand into her pocket and pulled out a pack of Marlboros. She moved her hand to offer her friend some but she shook her head.

"I don't like that kind," her companion scrunched her nose and made a face out the window, "They taste like sharp peppermint."

The buildings were towering over the car, casting it in shadows, but only giving it minimal heat relief. Avery's air conditioner was obviously broken, her friend dully noted as she felt a small spark of irritation: _Jank piece of shit_, she thought. She dragged a sweaty hand through her hair and closed her eyes trying to block out the smoke hijacking all the oxygen in the cramped car. What she wouldn't give for a small ice storm to come tearing through the miserable city and give her at least some comfort. Her anxiety spiked as the heat did, she never did like anything too hot.

Avery took a deep drag of her cigarette, leaned back against her seat lazily, then slammed her fist on the horn spurring a whole symphony of honks behind her and smirked to her left at her friend, "That's because they're completely unfiltered. There's a chemical they put in it that makes it this way. A lot of people like it; you're just a baby."

"That's not true. I don't even smoke, anyway!"

"Then how do you know what they taste like?" Avery raised a malicious eyebrow and checked for the shotgun beneath her seat for the umpteenth time.

Her friend's eyes followed her lazily, "Wild streak. I was young and I thought I was in charge of myself. Avery, please stop freaking me out with that gun. The last time I saw you, you were pretending to be a prostitute who had once been a duchess but gambled all her money away; so you tried to cut my jugular and steal 20 dollars, back then you referred to yourself as Dauphin. I'd really not like a repeat."

Avery snorted and stared at the traffic ahead of them, "I just met you two hours ago, how could that have happened? By the way I didn't get your name,"

"It's Nana." Nana sighed and ducked her head in defeat. No use trying to get Avery out of this delusion.

"Nana?"

"Nana."

"N-a-na."

"Yes. Nana."

"Well. I wasn't expecting that."

"Pft. What were you expecting?"

"I don't know something a little more pretty." Avery shrugged and let the cigarette dangle between her lips.

"What's wrong with my name?!" Nana huffed and looked out the window. She had (in actuality) had this conversation with "Avery" many times before. Each time she met Avery under a new alias. Nana usually ended up in a life threatening situation each time as well. But when wasn't she?

"Nothing, I guess it kinda suits you. But, you look more like a princess to me and Nana just doesn't sound like a princess name. You look more like an Isabella or a Mary."

"Well, good. 'Cause I'm not a princess." Nana sighed, thoroughly exasperated.

"I'm not as convinced, your majesty,"

Nana laughed and grinned brazenly back out the window watching the cab driver argue with preggo. Maybe they had been arguing for too long or something because suddenly the baby decided to make its bloody show. Just as that was happening the Telephone Company behind them exploded in a burst of fire with ruble flying everywhere. The taxi cab driver had completely forgotten about the vagina being torn to shreds in his cab and was now gaping open mouthed at the burning building. The woman was more focused in on what was going down between her legs.

_That baby is going to have a helluv a legacy to live up to_, Nana thought blankly.

The fire was spreading to the building next to it, which seemed to be a bistro of some kind. People were running screaming out of the restaurant and some were running around to help the injured. The Arab stopped a moment from his mugging patrol and stole a look at the commotion. The muggee lay on the ground unbelievingly.

"Ewe," Nana leaned back in the car, "I just saw a woman give birth."

"That's the human world for you. Completely behind in technological advances, not to mention manners," Avery slammed her hand on the horn again as someone tried to cut them off the intersection, "ASSHOLE!"

Nana looked sideways out of her eyes at Avery; "Was that you?" she was referring to the catastrophe behind them. Avery cackled and without sufficient warning, rammed into the car ahead of them flashing a smile that just screamed crazy.

"All the way."

That was when Nana casually slipped out the window and hoofed it through the crowds to find the train, praying the whole while she still had that 20 in her purse. Or Genkai would be pissed she was late.

…………………………………………..

Yusuke was contemplating just killing himself when he heard Kurama's footsteps behind him. He shifted his weight to his right side and gave him a scrutinizing glare. Kurama was wearing his brown leather jacket and white pants; no doubt that was a black undershirt showing under his collar. His hair was still as fiery as ever, yet still just as stubbornly controlled. His expression was that of sympathy mixed with guilt with a dash of cool calm. Stirred, not shaken. That's one hell of a drink. _Probably laced with arsenic_, Yusuke thought. Unlike Kurama, Yusuke was never stirred: always shaken. Lately he had taken to associate everyone with a distinct drink, since that had become his favorite pass time. Besides beating the shit out of anything that he could. Yusuke considered himself just plain Budweiser beer. Nothing fancy like the "Martini Kurama".

"What." He snapped, "Kinda trying to have a private moment with my fiancé, thank you."

Kurama's eyes flicked to the grave stone for a brief moment before returning back to Yusuke, "I'm sorry, Yusuke. However, it's important that we all meet. A telephone company was bombed this morning. The word from Koenma is that we should do a thorough investigation, the scene is crawling with demonic energy."

"Fuck Koenma," Yusuke offered halfheartedly, "I'm going to kill whatever bastard screwed my day up."

Kurama offered a small smile and bowed slightly to Keiko's grave, then turned and headed out of the gravesite. Yusuke took a long look at his deceased fiancé and then followed after Kurama.

It had only been a year since he came back, only to find the love of his life had waited herself to death for him. Literally. She was hit by a car 4 months before he got back and died in the hospital. Her left lung was punctured and all the bones in her right half from the neck down were shattered. He had seen the pictures and vomited soon after. He had seen plenty of mangled dead bodies before, so he wondered why he had such a reaction. But he had never seen Keiko's mangled dead body, he reminded himself. There had been so much blood, she didn't even remotely resemble the angel she was. Bleeding red wine. So that was what he thought of her as. She was only eighteen. The pictures were so exact. Succinct enough to kill.

When Kurama and Kuwabara had told him, at first he didn't believe it and took it as Kuwabara trying to get back at him. It wasn't a joke. He demanded to see Koenma. He wanted to beat that toddler to a bloody pulp. How could he have let anything like this happen?! Couldn't they just revive her? Well. They couldn't. Botan had told him that she escorted Keiko herself over to the other side. Keiko didn't even protest. Her only word was his name, and she then seemed at peace. He only took cases, stopped taking care of himself and stopped speaking unless it was a curse here or a curse there. He murdered every demon that he got the chance to. But that was only the first five months, then he managed to calm somewhat and try to do his job a little decently. He moved in full time at Genkai's and trained until he dropped almost everyday. Then he decided instead of killing spree's which did nothing to help him forget Keiko, he decided to let out his anger _then_ drink himself away into a pitiful hole.

Ha-ha. Win- Win situation.

More often than not he woke up to stained sheets and would forget to shower for days. The old hag would rag him until he couldn't take it anymore and just locked himself in the shower with a bottle of whatever he was drinking at the time, asking the same question over and over again.

If she was the only thing that was worth living in this world: then what was he still doing here?

"Where are we meeting?" Yusuke asked once they got onto the sidewalk.

Kurama answered smoothly, "At the scene, however I have a feeling that we'll most likely run into one of them before we get there."

Yusuke groaned and rolled his shoulder, "Let me guess, the shrimp?"

"Hiei noticed some demonic activity near here and went to check it out." They both made a left and picked up their pace.

"Surprised he's even here, what with him up Mukuro's ass every second of the day." Yusuke yawned and put his arms behind his head as Kurama laughed quietly.

"Don't be too jealous, Yusuke. It's very unbecoming."

Yusuke shot Kurama a chaffed look and scoffed to the side obnoxiously.

"You know, it wasn't too long ago where I was the one cracking gay jokes at you and Hiei, somehow our roles have been reversed."

"Hiei's has stayed the same." Kurama offered.

"It always does." Yusuke grumbled back moodily.

…………………………………….

Hiei stalked up with no remorse on his features for the kill he just made, only emptiness and his usual brooding eyes. They had found him slaughtering some demon who tried to make a swipe at him over by a random adjacent building.

Yusuke was the first to greet him, "Hey twerp,"

Hiei was classified as something ruthless, but still with some class. Burns down the throat like acid fire, maybe a nice after taste when he's in a good mood: Obviously Goldshlager. Good days on the rocks: Bad days straight.

"Shut up, you pathetic excuse for a detective," came the curt reply.

Yusuke bristled, "God I would kill for a beer right now," he groaned.

Hiei sneered as he walked past, "Don't you always?"

Yusuke pretended not to notice the jab at his substance abuse.

"Go fuck yourself," he muttered under his breath as he trailed behind.

The rest of the walk to the scene consisted of Kurama and Hiei's low murmurs about the new case. Yusuke pretended not to notice them and strolled ahead. Of course they wouldn't let anyone in on their plans until they were fucking air tight sealed. Yusuke tried not to make a left towards the direction of one of his favorite bars, which he just _knew_ was there waiting for him. He could practically smell the Cosmopolitans calling his name.

"Yusuke" It sang, "Come over and drink me you lame alcoholic."

He ground his teeth and squared his shoulders, steering himself forward with every ounce of his will power. He would _not_ run in and order a dry martini and eat the olives like they were his last meal on earth. He would _not_ abandon this mission to swim in a pool of sweet intoxication with a bottle of Scotch dangling in his right hand and a Bloody Mary clutched in his right. He felt a tingle in his throat.

Fuck, he was so thirsty. His eyes rammed to the side and watched as he walked by his final chance to feel heaven. He slammed his eyes shut and stuffed his hands in his jacket's pockets.

"You know you want to" It echoed in the distance.

_God Damnit_! He inwardly cursed and shuffled forward with more force than necessary.

They met up with Kuwabara who was swathed in shopping bags. Shizuru stood near by lighting up. Yusuke's mind shifted into alcohol mode. Kuwabara was in essence synonymous with a Shrekarita. Ridiculous, but has potential to fuck you up in the end. The perfect match.

"Hey! Where have you guys been? I've been standing here forever!" Kuwabara yelled and waved his arms around, jostling the bags.

"Calm down, little brother. They probably had something better to do." Shizuru exhaled a small cloud and flicked her brother's shoulder. Yusuke glanced at her. He wanted to say Shizuru was a Captain Morgan type of gal, but he could never really be sure. She was that drink he could never really place. He just knew it was a drink that went well with a box of squares in hand.

"Then how come I wasn't invited?!"

"Because you suck."

"Fuck you, Urameshi!"

Kuwabara raised his fists thinking of fighting even with all those bags. Shizuru stopped him before he could embarrass himself too much, though. He scoffed to the side and muttered something unintelligible that no one actually took notice of.

"So, where's Botan?" Kuwabara asked, looking around, "I thought she'd be with you."

"She was, but she seemed in a hurry to get back to Koenmas." Kurama answered, "This must be very important. Have you sensed anything?"

Before Kuwabara answered, Yusuke's mind wandered to why Botan, walking Pina Colada, needed so desperately to speak with Koenma, the Appletini of the after life. Maybe it was personal. Yusuke always suspected they were sneaking around, getting freaky while the ogres were out.

Kuwabara's face took on an uneasy look, "Well… Yeah, actually."

Kuwabara's facial expression drew Yusuke out of his inner monologue. His face was contorted in to this anxiety ridden frustration. His eyes were staring at the ground like he was trying to solve a math problem, but never studied the material that was supposed to help.

"Well," Hiei snapped, always the impatient one, "What did you find?"

Kuwabara hesitated, "Well, you see, that's the thing..."

Kurama listened more intently, as did Yusuke.

"The energy that I sensed around this place… It didn't seem natural. Like, okay, what I mean is, it didn't seem like _just_ a demon." Kuwabara seemed to be struggling for words. Hiei's head snapped up from where he was staring at the dirt and Yusuke narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Kurama asked, imploringly. His eye brows were pulled down into a contemplating look.

"It just seemed… _Crazy_. Like, nutso! Psychotic. Really unstable. It wasn't particularly strong or menacing… just…like the person belonged in a mental institute. They didn't even bother to hide their energy or anything. They just left a really obvious trail, and I know it's not a trick because-well this person is way too crazy to think of anything that well thought out." Kuwabara looked up at Yusuke to see what the orders were.

Yusuke's left arm was twitching (probably from withdrawal), and he seemed in deep thought. His blue jeans had some dirt on the knees, which was an instant tip to what he had been doing before this. Kuwabara felt a pang of guilt, knowing that this ass hole demon had disturbed Yusuke's time with Keiko, which in Kuwabara's world was unforgiveable. Everyone knew Yusuke had taken her death hard. Kuwabara wondered if Yusuke had hit the bar yet today and contemplated going as an escort.

Yusuke tugged at his white t-shirt and looked determinedly in Kuwabara's eyes, in no mood for beating around the bush.

"So what are we lookin at here?" Yusuke asked in a low voice.

"They went east," Kuwabara answered.

"So then let's go get him," Hiei offered snappily.

"Wait- first, why did they blow up a telephone company?" Yusuke asked, confusedly.

"Maybe they didn't feel like paying their bills," Shizuru said offhandedly.

Everyone shot her a shocked look.

"What?" She shrugged, "If I was as crazy as Kazuma said this jerk was and I had crazy demonic powers, I wouldn't want to pay my bills so I'd probably do the same thing."

"Shut up, sis! Let the _real_ detectives do the thinking, you're only here 'cause you made me carry your bags." Kuwabara sputtered.

"Well if you're here, then I'd say that constitutes her being here as well," Hiei muttered.

"What was that you tiny punk?! Are you trying to say that _I'm_ not a real detective?!"

"Well, technically Yusuke is the only real detective here." Came the brisk answer.

Kuwabara and Hiei engaged in a stare down. Hiei's hand drifted down to the hilt of his sword and Kuwabara stepped down.

"Jeez Shorty, always so temperamental," he muttered.

"Guys, lets get back on topic, okay?" Yusuke demanded, "We need a course of action. If he went east, then lets go after him."

"Now?"

"Now."

They all gave Yusuke's blind drive for headstrong fighting a dry stare.

"Let's think about this, Yusuke," Kurama reasoned, "Lets go back to Genkai's and come up with a better plan and wait for Botan to come back with more information."

Yusuke thought it over and shrugged. Well, he did want at least two beers before doing anything sooo… "All right lets go," then he took off towards the train station, the gang following behind. Yusuke smirked for a split second at Kuwabara's faint attempts to get Shizuru not to come along.

"Go home, sis! This is dangerous stuff!"

"Shut up, Kazuma."

……………………………….

They had just survived the long train ride of near silence. Near silence to Kuwabara's constant need to flap his jaws. Yusuke had tried to tune him out after a while and immersed himself in his thoughts. He thought of Genkai and his mind wandered back the bar he had passed. He was wishing he had just made the turn and gone right in. Maybe stayed the night. Genkai was like a Bloody Mary. Especially when she was kicking his ass. Then he thought of the small Ice Apparition who was staying with her, who was coincidentally Hiei's sister: Yukina. Now she was a hard drink to place, it took him a little over a week to finally get it right. Yukina in all her glory was a Mojito. Dead center, right on, oh yeah, a _Mojito_. Yusuke thought it was quite fitting, but then he found himself guilty for thinking of someone who was so innocent as a popular bar drink. If Hiei ever looked into his mind at a brief alcoholic moment, then _he was so dead_.

"Hey, Urameshi-,"

"Can it, Kuwabara."

"Why is everyone always telling me to be quiet!?"

"Hn. Because you're annoying."

"Shut up Hiei!"

The fire apparition glared disdainfully at the hulky red head. One thing Hiei hated, which everyone knew, was talking. Unless it was him doing the talking (that never happened often), he usually did not appreciate conversation. If it was intellectual, then he could tolerate it. Since Kuwabara was far from intelligent or tolerable, he was in the red.

"Listen you oaf, one more word and you won't have any legs," That shut Kuwabara up.

The train had come to a halt and everyone shuffled off, Kuwabara with difficulties ("why couldn't we just take these shopping bags home!?!" – "Because I wanted to show Yukina, Kazuma. Now shut up!"). It was about 7:30pm and the sun was setting, casting the land in reds and oranges. Hiei glanced up ahead as he noticed something out of the ordinary. _What in the world_- he thought as he stopped walking. He was focused in on something he thought he would never encounter. The scent reached him and he subconsciously shrank back into himself. _Smells like cheap perfume_, his nose wrinkled and he tried to get a whiff of something other than that.

The rest were all walking down a hill on the path when they all noticed Hiei's attention up ahead. Kurama noticed Hiei stop and wondered what the hold up was.

"Hiei?" Kurama asked, they all stopped and looked ahead. Then Kurama smelled it, "it smells like… A department store."

"What the heck?" Kuwabara shouted, almost hysterically, and pointed at the scene "What is that about?!?!"

Yusuke turned and his eyes widened at the sight before him.

_What the fuck…?_

She was standing in front of a shrine and was leaned over a something. Her skin was normal enough color. Her hair dangled in front of her face as she moved her hands across her thighs dusting them off. He completely missed the lump of skin lying on the ground next to her. She was very plain, if not a little too girly. Nothing too eye catching except her expensive looking clothes. But that seemed about it.

At first when he glimpsed her he thought she was a champagne kind of girl. Way too into herself it looked like. A round face, light auburn hair that just barely swept past her shoulders, pouty lips, pearl earrings, cutesy red dress with white strappy stilettos. But then he saw her eyes and his thoughts immediately darted to the only thing she could ever be.

"Hey," She drawled in a lazy voice, warm liquid brown eyes shining in the setting sun, "Do any of you know how to hide a dead body?"

_Jesus Christ_, he thought.

Bourbon on the rocks.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

**Yusuke's liquor dictionary:**

**Yusuke:** **Beer (Budweiser). **. 1)_ Bland, flavorless alcohol delivery system that sells because of advertising. See also __**Zima**__, __**Wonder Bread**__, and __**Hamburger Helper**__. _

"_Don't tell me how good my beer is, okay? I know how good my beer is, because I'm the one who buys it, okay? When Bonnie goes to the store to buy beer, she buys Budweiser. When I drink my beer I want to taste it."_

_2) The cause of and solution to all life's problems! _

_-via Homer J. Simpson _

**Nana:** **Bourbon on the rocks**. _1) American whiskey made in Kentucky, not necessarily in Bourbon County (one of my favorites is made in Woodford county). Some say the limestone in the water in Kentucky gives the bourbon a distinctive taste. US Congress declared bourbon "America's Native Spirit" and its official distilled "spirit" in 1964._

2) The best drink if you feel like "gettin red" and you're a poor soul that can't get any moonshine. 

"_Baby, this bourbon makes you look HOT!!"_

In order to do a good rebel yell, you first have to lubricate your throat with a healthy dose of bourbon.

"It's not the shoes, it's the bourbon."

**Keiko:** **Wine. **_A beverage made from the fermented juice of various kinds of grapes. Contains 10-15 percent alcohol by volume.  
Nectar of the gods... _

_Wine- Merlot, Chianti, Zinfandel, Bourdeaux, Cabernet._

**Kurama:** **Martini**. _1.) A cocktail made with gin and vermouth and served with an olive _

"_Am I drinking too many martinis? Last week they found an olive in my urine sample." _

_2.) An alcoholic Irish heavy metal comedy badass with split personality disorder _

_In The Departed. "Matt Damon was a total martini in the departed." _

**Hiei:** **Goldshlager**_. (n)- Cinnamon schnapps liqueur (40%) with gold flakes. Rapid consumption results in inebriation and eventual disorientation which eventually leads to unconsciousness. Upon consciousness, causes one to realize they are in someone else's bed in A/B with their pants 1/2 off. At this point, friends help one up and one proceeds with puking. Then there is more disorientation, eventually leading to another state of unconsciousness. Later the next morning, it is realized that stolen furniture polish was thrown out one's window. _

**Yukina:** **Mojito**. _A Bacardi Rum drink made with spearmint leaves, rum, fizz water and ice. "Bartender, Gimme a Mojito...and yeah I ain't gay but I like my Mojito."_

**Kuwabara:** **Shrekarita:** _A _**_strawberry_**__**_margarita_**_ in a collectors' edition McDonald's Shrek-the-Third cup complete with green venti-sized Starbucks straw. _

"_Oh hell yeah, shrekaritas! We're getting fucked up!"_

**Shizuru: Captain Morgan: **_Spiced Rum. Makes you yak like crazy though. _

"_Got a little Captain in you?_"

**Genkai:** **Bloody Mary**. _A cocktail made from vodka, tomato juice, other spices, and a celery stick. Can also be used as a hangover cure. Recipe is:_

1.5 shots vodka  
2 shots tomato juice  
2 shakes Worcestershire sauce  
1 shake Tabasco  
dash of horseradish  
dash of salt & pepper.

Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in the vodka, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and tomato juice, and stir with a celery stick. Dash the horseradish, then shake on pepper and salt (if using low-sodium tomato juice). Use the celery stick you stirred with as garnish. 

_Guy: BARKEEP! Another Bloody Mary!  
Bartender: Damnit, Donnie, you've had 4 already, go home! _

**Botan:** **Pina Colada**. _A cocktail made with pineapple juice or pineapple chunks, coconut cream, and rum. Known for its sweet, easy-drinking taste that masks a sizable alcohol content (around 2 oz of rum per drink). _

"_Lisa made out with Chris after one too many Pina Coladas last night." _

**Koenma:** **Apple Martini**. _A drink that PaCMaN enjoys quite frequently. Also a drink that is known in the gay community, as a drink to give to your partner for a sure bareback session later that night._

1 part Absolut® vodka  
1 part DeKuyper® Sour Apple Pucker schnapps  
1 part apple juice

Poor all ingredients into a shaker. Shake well and strain into a Martini glass. 

"_Hey Earl, what say we both order up some apple martinis, I'm feeling a little frisky tonight?"_


	2. Stay Fly

**This chapter sure was a bitch to write. It took forever! I really like how it started out…but then it just sucks from there, I feel like. I'm a little disappointed in how there was hardly any Alcoholic Yusuke moments. I LIVE FOR THOSE. And already I find myself regretting killing Keiko, because I fucking love Keiko and I just miss her… Anyway, this might be the longest thing I've ever written. WHOO WEEE. I was really inspired by Blackbelt's ****Wit and Courage****. EVERYONE SHOULD GO READ IT IMMEDIATELY. Callie is sweet shit! And I was really inspired by every other Hiei/OC Fic in the world. Especially WistfulSin's ****The Reborn Forgotten. **** Shinpi is just kick ass. ANYWAY. **

**We all know about disclaimers. **

………………………………………**.**

**Chapter Two:**

**Stay Fly**

"_Do any of you know how to hide a dead body?"_

Hiei didn't know whether to be shocked with the dead man beneath her stiletto or try and stab her. She had that air about her that just screamed ignorant human, so he was opting for the later.

"W-what!?" Kuwabara was having a fit, as usual at anything unexpected. Hiei was advanced enough to begin expecting the unexpected: and the only thing unexpected about this scene was the strong scent of department store perfume. Obviously Kurama had caught that as well. Hiei gave her a once over and noted that she wasn't worth his time or the effort to dispatch her. His eyes wandered down to her feet.

The body was only recently deceased, He noticed as he saw the blood still seeping out from the center of his middle. He was a middle aged traveling business man, with spectacles that now lay crooked and shattered on the ground 30 degrees to the right of the man's face. He wore a tan suit, with old faded brown loafers and a fake leather belt. His hair was a reminiscent Donald Trump comb over, with wispy brown strands.

His gaze wandered back towards the small girl/woman (he placed her in the middle teens, but he couldn't be sure) and noticed she looked a little winded, maybe the small traces of former panic were left on her face. She shifted her weight to her left and jutted out her right hip. She looked between them all with bare eyes. Her gaze landed on him and he met her stare with his own dark look.

'_What's his problem?_' She thought as she shifted her gaze away quickly, '_Well I guess I AM standing next to a dead man. Sufficient enough reason to stare, I suppose._'

"What do you mean?" She asked, squinting in the sun at Kuwabara.

"What do you mean, what do I mean!?" The idiot threw his hands up and lunged forward a step, thrusting out his index finger, "You're leanin' over a dead guy and trying to get rid of the evidence! What are you trying to pull? Urameshi-,"

"Be quiet Kuwabara," Yusuke said firmly, already taking control of the situation, he took on a more dominant position and edged forward, "What happened here?"

She gave him an odd glance and looked back down at the dead man. Something like a cold sweat or mild dread passed over her features, "Wait," she said and gestured to the body with small hands, "I know what this looks like and I swear I didn't do it."

"That's not answering my question," Yusuke stated more firmly.

She looked around awkwardly, "Uhhh...."

She seemed to reconsider her next few words carefully. Hiei swept over her body language swiftly, noting her change in stance was no longer confident but defensive and unsure. Her eyes went from a solid head on look to glancing off towards her right with a crease between the space where the two eyes met. It didn't take his Jagan to see that she was being hesitant. However, it wasn't below him to take a look and get the real story. He noticed Kurama discreetly giving him the go ahead from the corner of his eyes. So he focused in on her thoughts and got an immediate response.

'_Damn, they totally think I killed him. Not my fault the jerk fell on his own knife trying to show it off to the unwilling. Frick! Genkai is going to kill me if I'm late. WHICH I AM. What do I do? …Shit, where did my inhaler go? Double frick! I think I put it back in my purse…tell me I put it back in my purse…calm down. CALM DOWN. Panicking is useless, it's not going to solve anything-,'_

He blocked her out after that, unwilling to listen to her psyche herself out. If she wasn't a murderer, then she wasn't interesting. He was surprised that she was going to Genkai's, though. More surprised that she even knew who Genkai was. He scrutinized her more thoroughly and noticed her aura was a little off. It was human, (he inwardly snorted) of that he was certain there was no doubt, but it seemed a little out of place compared to Shizuru's and Kuwabara's human aura. It was fainter than the normal humans, discreetly more subtle. It felt more like the ferry girl's or ghosts, but that wasn't quite right either. He couldn't get a good idea of what her personal scent was, because it was covered up by that obnoxious stench of a perfume.

"Well, Okay," she muttered, "It all started when I was on my way to a friends house, you know, just walking along and I see him and we stop and chat and he decides to show me his pocket knife. Well then he wanted to… Uh… I don't know, leave or whatever but he tripped over that rock down yonder…and…you know…this happened..."

Hiei's eyes boredly acknowledged Kurama.

'_She didn't kill him_,' he telepathically communicated.

'_Her story checks out, then?_' Kurama didn't show any indication that they were speaking.

'_Hn_.'

'_Don't you suppose you should notify the others, so they don't interrogate the poor thing?_'

'_Poor thing that was trying to conceal a dead man_,'

'_Touché. I suppose we should let it go on to see her reasons; did you find anything on that?_'

Hiei crossed his arms and watched Yusuke's expression as he answered, '_No. She wasn't thinking about her reasons for hiding the body. However, she's on her way to Genkai's, so we can only assume she's in a hurry. The pathetic creature was too preoccupied with calming herself down and locating some "inhaler" nonsense, to actually think coherently_.'

'_Hiei, if she's looking for an inhaler that means she's having difficulties breathing. Which means interrogating her might not be the best plan._'

Hiei didn't respond.

'_You don't care do, do you?_'

Silence met Kurama as he sighed at his friend's answer, which meant: NO. No he does not care what becomes of this pathetic little wench. Kurama looked on as Yusuke approached the small woman.

Yusuke knew how to deal with cases like these, where most demons/people try to make it seem like the whole ordeal was an accident and they had nothing to do with it. The drill was to give the body a subtle once over to look for anything that might have indicated a struggle; like hand marks around the neck in case of strangulation, or bite marks around the neck, suspicious bruises, etc. He found nothing but what she described, the knife was lodged up in between the ribs and it looked like he really did die from self inflicted damage.

"It didn't occur to you to help him?" Shizuru spoke up, obviously disgusted as she flicked her cigarette, "He was bleeding to death and you just stood there?"

"Well that might not be the case," Kurama interrupted, "The human body is surprisingly sturdy however it has its weaknesses. Even demon bodies have vital points. If the knife hit one of those certain points than he would have died upon impact or at least only a few minutes after the hit and there would have been nothing she could do to save him."

"That's exactly what happened," the girl answered quickly.

"That doesn't explain why you were trying to hide him," Yusuke pointed out as he bent over the man and examined him more meticulously.

"Well, shoot." She said and scrunched up her nose, "How would you feel if some guy killed himself and it looked like you knifed him?"

She crossed her arms and looked down at the body like it owed her money. Yusuke was within arms reach of her and she absently eyed him. He looked up at her and returned her gaze.

"You're human?" He asked, reluctantly.

She hesitated.

"Yeah,"

The pause was all he needed to close in on her.

Yusuke narrowed his eyes, "You're lying," he accused and reached up and seized her by her elbow. She tried to jerk away but to no avail, "Why would you lie about that?"

"Look," She said hurriedly, "I don't have time for this! I have somewhere to be,"

"Where?" Yusuke demanded.

She felt fragile, he noticed as he gripped her elbow harder. She was about 5 foot 2, maybe 90 pounds; there was no way she was capable of killing a man twice her size unless she wasn't human or she was a psychic. But he didn't sense any demonic aura around her and if she was a psychic then why hadn't they felt her territory?

His mind went through five possible situations as he noticed there wasn't any blood on her, which means she wasn't in range of the body when the man had been stabbed. Or that she was extremely good at dodging. Then he tried guessing at her species. But when he smelled her, he realized she _was_ human. In his surprise his grip slackened and he smelled for something more, ignoring her perfume.

'_It's just…Human…but faint_.' He noted, '_so then why the hesitation?_'

"Genkai's." Hiei answered for her.

She froze and looked up at Hiei cautiously. He took in her look, again, with his own radiating hostility. Her face was muddled with confusion; he searched her face again and didn't find what he was looking for. His mind went into a state of perplexity. He puzzled for only a moment over this question; he concluded the girl was either very stupid or very headstrong. But he was betting it was both.

_Where was the fear?_

Yusuke's eyes narrowed considerably, "Why are you bothering the old hag?"

"You know her?" she asked disbelievingly, her attention focused back on Yusuke who was practically ripping her elbow from the rest of her person, "well that makes this a lot easier,"

"Why aren't you answering me?"

"Why are you hurting me?!"

She struggled and tried to step on his foot, he moved out of the way and she ended up lurching forwards and losing her balance. Yusuke caught her by the arms and held them behind her back and she let out an indignant yelp.

"Let me go, creeper!"

"Why did you hesitate telling us you were human? Why are you going to see Genkai?"

"We have a meeting, you jerk!" She yelled and tried to rip away from him again. This time Yusuke released her. She turned around and glared up at him and he glared right back, "its official and all that."

'_It's the truth, Yusuke_,' Hiei finally intervened.

'_Are you sure? I don't want anyone near the temple who could pose a threat_,'

When no voice entered his head, Yusuke sighed frustratedly, '_I assume you meant yes_,'

Hiei didn't feel the need to mention how insulting it was that Yusuke would actually think he would let a crazy murderer within 100 miles of Yukina.

"Whatever," Yusuke huffed, "Hiei can you take care of the body?"

Hiei looked boredly at the detective, "Do you have to have to ask?"

"Turns out we were just on our way to Genkai's as well," Yusuke announced as he guided the girl by her arm, this time she made no protest but stared disdainfully at his arm, "We'll take you there."

She caught the threat in his voice, it basically said: You're full of shit and I'm not letting you out of my sight just in case I need to kill you.

"Um…" She seemed a little wary, "Okay…"

The rest of them all surrounded her as they walked. Shizuru was staring at her out of the corner of her eyes, but Kuwabara was way more obvious about it as he downright glared at her. She stared shyly back at him and moved closer to Yusuke, averting her eyes and messing with her earrings. Yusuke watched her face fall and her hands run over the smooth surface of her pearls in a nervous fashion.

"What's your name?" he demanded, "No bullshit."

She looked back up at him and was quiet for a moment. She adjusted the purse on her shoulder and flicked her eyes to Kurama and then back to Yusuke.

"Nana," She replied evenly and stole a glance behind her. Yusuke noticed her cagey glances around and filed that away to be looked at later. _Cagey behavior_, he recited mentally,_ when one is feeling trapped or 'caged' and is looking for a way out through analyzing their surroundings. Anxiety is peeked and cold sweats are a dead give away._ The last part he figured could be discarded because who wasn't sweating in this ungodly heat?

"What's _he_ going to do?" She asked Yusuke quietly, looking back at Hiei, over her shoulder, who was walking calmly towards the body. Hiei looked up at her and their eyes met in a brief clash of brown and crimson. They were completely blank, she noticed as she continued to stare. His eyes glinted dangerously and she shivered and quickly turned back ahead, letting her hair fall onto her face.

"Doing what you asked," Yusuke answered and steered her over a root, "Getting rid of the body,"

She glanced behind her once more but Hiei and the body were already gone.

"What a weirdo," She muttered under her breath.

Yusuke watched as she ran her free hand through her hair and started taking deep breaths. She looked young, he mused. What would she be doing wandering around Genkai's?

"How old are you?" He asked her, as Nana moved a hand on her neck underneath her left ear.

She looked at Yusuke blandly and gave him a blank stare, "How old do you think I am?"

He gave her a long hard look, "16."

She stopped walking and her mouth fell open, "I LOOK THAT YOUNG!?" Her eyes almost misted over and she hung her head dejectedly. Yusuke huffed and looked off to the side uncomfortably.

"What? How old are you, then?" He snapped, he groaned when she didn't answer, "Nana, get off your ass and answer me!"

She had somehow slipped to the ground and covered her face with her hands.

"I don't want to!" She whined, and then "I'm not that young!"

"Then how old are you!?!?!?" He lost his patience and yelled at her. She flinched on the ground and looked up at him with teary eyes. He was impervious, though, his need for whiskey slowly overcoming his compassion levels. He yanked her back up and practically dragged her forwards.

She stopped her tears and let out another indignant cry as she stumbled forwards against her will, "I'm technically 20!"

"Huh," Kuwabara mused, completely forgetting his past uneasiness around her, "You look so much younger! Well, I guess maybe it's just because you're so little."

"WHAT!" She yelled and swiveled to face him, dragging Yusuke with her.

"What? So you're kind of short. At least you aren't as short as Hiei used to be! He was only four foot ten inches! At least now he's five foot seven. The shrimp finally got his growth spurt," Kuwabara laughed.

"Hiei…" She repeated, "He's…"

They all tensed up, waiting for her to yell out how frightening and demonic he was.

"Really cool." They all tripped over their own feet, "I wish I could be more like him."

"You think that demon is cool?!" Kuwabara flipped.

"Well kinda." She whined, bashfully, "I mean, did you see his hair? It was so… neat. It looks like a flame! He doesn't look like he used to be short at all."

"Yeah well, he was still scary even back then. I almost peed my pants every time he showed up. You know, you're just really skinny and short." Kuwabara explained as he examined her closer, "You're actually kinda adorable. You know, minus all the dead people situations. If I hadn't seen you next to that guy then I would've thought you were exactly like a puppy." His eyes suddenly lit up as he started imagining an invisible tail wagging behind her and squealed.

"You think I'm skinny?" She asked her own eyes starting to shine and let out her own squeal, "I'm glad! I was worried that maybe this diet I was on wasn't working!"

Shizuru took the cigarette out of her mouth, "Why are you on a diet? You're already so thin; you could do with a few more pounds… Although your face is kinda round,"

Dread fell across Nana's features as she lifted a hand to her face in an overdramatic fashion, "It's horrible…" She said in a haunted voice, "no matter how many face tightening creams I use…it's still round… Sometimes I have nightmares that this horrid face swallows the rest of my body…"

They all gave her a weird look, "It's not that bad, it's just round." Shizuru shrugged, "Don't beat yourself up, aside from that you're actually kind of cute."

"Kind of?" Nana echoed.

Shizuru ignored her, "maybe you'll find a husband one day who likes murdering house wives."

Kuwabara and Shizuru laughed at Nana's gaping expression.

Yusuke watched all this with a disgusted expression. Could they get back to the "this girl may or may not have had something to do with a dead body, so let's _not_ make friends with her"? He gave her arm a sharp jerk as they avoided some green underbrush and she yelped.

"Nana," Kurama addressed her quietly, "What is it you and Genkai are meeting for?"

She slid her eyes over him quietly and said, "Information exchange."

"That's not vague," Yusuke spat sarcastically.

She glared lazily at him and rolled her eyes as he started pulling on her when she slowed her pace down, "It's private,"

"Well, we're almost there," Kurama said.

They approached the stone steps and Yusuke noticed the look of wonder on Nana's face. She didn't look like she had just witnessed someone stab themselves; she looked like someone who was going to the mall for some new shoes or something. They continued up the stairs but by the time they had gotten half way up the steps Nana had all but collapsed. Her little legs were burning from the trek and her ankles were blistering from her shoes. She was a little wobbly and was almost being carried by Yusuke for support, before she reminded herself that he was the maybe-kinda-don't-know-but-still-be-wary "enemy". Shizuru was snickering at her weakness while Kuwabara was gaping at how frail and helpless she looked (like a kicked pup). Kurama was already almost at the top, trying to be courteous to wait for the girl and Yusuke who was close to passing out.

'_Damn_,' she thought, '_who would've thought that woman would have these devil steps? She really is Satan. _'

They finally reached the top, with Yusuke almost dragging the out of shape Nana.

"Would you just get up and walk! We're here, Jesus!" Yusuke screamed in her ear.

Nana's hands flew to the side of her head as she teetered at the top of the steps, "I don't want to!"

"I'm not carrying you!"

"But I'm weak and defenseless…" She whined.

'_They're like children_,' Kurama thought as he watched her drag her feat and whine every two seconds.

Yusuke threw up his hands, thoroughly exasperated and started walking away without her, leaving Nana with Shizuru, Kuwabara, and an annoyed Kurama.

"What a prince," Nana commented dryly, "You give him weak and he leaves you in the wild. Now I know never to leave him alone with a baby."

Yusuke disappeared inside the house, most likely to find Genkai or to find his stash. Kurama was betting on the latter, although he liked to think Yusuke was in enough control where he could at least alert Genkai of the situation.

"Technically, you're not in the wild," Kuwabara pointed out.

Nana gave him an arid, tired, look and started forwards with the rest of them. Kurama noted the curious look she had as she slowly examined the temple. Her eyes widened at the sheer girth of the place and the vegetation. She looked behind her and let out a silent 'O' at the view at the top of the steps.

"Look at that…" She pointed as she tugged on Shizuru's sleeve.

Shizuru looked down absently at her then to where she was pointing, "Hm?"

The sun was almost completely gone, leaving 3/4ths of the sky an inky black and the rest a dying blue complete with streaks of orange fire. The heat had started to cool a little bit and was now at a bearable temperature. It was pleasant, they all thought. The stars were sprinkled out leaving everything in a nice, peaceful glow. The air smelled warm and healthy at the top of Genkai's steps. Nana breathed in the fresh air with enthusiasm and let a small smile grace her features, despite being dragged all the way here.

'_Genkai…_' She thought quietly, '_It's been a long time_.'

"The view is nice, huh?" Kuwabara grinned like cat and rested his elbow on Shizuru's shoulder. He was glad they could find a time for rest, usually with their hectic schedules they didn't have time for just standing back and admiring the sights.

"Why are you acting all proud? You don't even own the place," Shizuru dryly commented, "Bro; get your arm off me before I break it in half."

Kuwabara let out a nervous laugh and backed away a few steps. Kurama noticed Nana was laughing at Shizuru and Kuwabara's antics and felt himself relax somewhat. She didn't seem like a threat. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she flashed them a bright smile. No, if anything she was acting the exact opposite. Her eyes were too innocent, too open, too _trusting_. He inwardly cringed at the rough way Yusuke had handled her.

'_But what was she doing hiding a dead body?_' He felt his instincts spike back up at the plaguing question, '_we'll know soon enough. We're here at Genkai's, now it's time to find some answers. We can't even forget about the case we're already on. Could she be related?_'

He followed her movements and watched as she all but bounced along the path to the house.

'_The bombing was in a completely different city, too far from here. She's also human; the bomb site reeked of demonic aura. Although her perfume can hide her scent, it can't hide her natural spirit energy_,'

He flinched as Nana let out a screech when she noticed Hiei leaning against a tree to her left as if he'd been napping there all day.

"HOLY FRICK!" She yelped, "When did you get there?! You about gave me a heart attack!"

He didn't acknowledge her; instead he slowly nodded his head in Kurama's direction.

"Uh-hey!" She waved at Hiei trying to get his attention, "Don't ignore people when they speak to you! It's rude."

Kurama sweat dropped, hoping she would leave Hiei alone before she actually got his attention. He noticed Shizuru watching the scene in bland amusement and Kuwabara looking like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Nana stomped her little foot and Hiei continued to ignore her presence.

"Look at me! I'm talking to you!"

"Did I _say_ you could talk to me?"

'_Too late_,' Kurama thought as he felt himself die a little inside at the mental scarring the girl was about to receive.

Hiei had stood and was now towering over the small woman. His eyes were glinting blood as his stare bore into her own plain eyes. His shirt rustled in the wind and she got a whiff of his natural smell. He smelt like a bonfire, she noted. He gave off a threatening aura and she frowned at his attempt to intimidate her. She vaguely wondered what he did with the body and almost shuddered at the thought. Someone like him could have done _anything_.

'_And definitely gotten away with it_,' she thought.

Kurama prayed she would back down; Hiei was in no mood for trifles. He was already on edge from not slaughtering anything for a while and he was just looking for an excuse to rip something apart. However it seemed the girl just did not _get_ it. She stood her ground and planted her small fists on each of her hips. Kurama saw a small, unnoticeable, flick of amusement flash in Hiei's eyes at the small woman's attempt to appear dominating. However, the amusement quickly turned into something much crueler. Kurama winced at what might occur.

"I don't need your permission to speak," Nana fired back at him, "I'll talk to whomever I please."

He didn't reply, instead his hand reached out and seized her by the hair and fisted itself. She let out a yelp as he slammed/threw her into the tree he had previously been lounging on. Her back hit it with a loud crack as her purse slipped off of her shoulder and hit the ground. Kuwabara let out a loud yell at Hiei who was indifferently watching the few loose stands he had pulled slip off his fingers, "Why did you do that!?"

Hiei ignored him and half circled Nana who was trying to peer up at him through her disorientation. His eyes were wicked and his looming predatory figure was menacing.

"Disgusting little human, maybe that will shut your filthy mouth up."

He searched her face for the terror he had failed to find earlier and almost let out a growl in frustration. She was only staring at him in surprise and pain, but there was no trace of fear. He wanted the satisfaction of knowing he crushed her nasty little spirit and could have done just that to her spine.

"Hiei!" Kurama scolded as he hurried over to Nana and helped her up. Hiei backed away coolly.

"Hn."

'_Forget Genkai. __**HE**__ is Satan_.' Nana straightened her back with a wince, which was most likely bruised. Kurama listened to hear if she had anything broken, luckily Hiei was only faintly irritated with her; he could have snapped her spine if he had wanted to.

"Are you alright?" Kurama asked as he sent a glare towards the indifferent Hiei who had already started stalking away.

"Err…" She wobbled a bit before looking around herself to reassess her whereabouts, "Yeah. Just a little jumbled."

Before Kuwabara could throw a fit at Hiei's retreating form, a sliding door flew open causing everyone to snap their attention in its direction.

"What are you idiots doing man-handling my 8:00 meeting?"

……………………………………….

Nana stared ahead disbelievingly. This was Genkai? This old woman who was winkled and old and _short_?

'_An old woman who has more power in her wrinkled pinkie than I do my entire body_.' Nana reminded herself with an embarrassed flush.

Her hair had lost its vibrancy that she had been remembered for in Nana's mind, it now hung in dull strings. Her gaze was wiser now, full of knowledge as opposed to when her eyes were innocent and full of life. Nana took in all the big and small changes Genkai had gone through in the years apart.

'She's just so… different.'

After being made a fool of outside by a temperamental psychopathic fire hazard, Nana was taken inside by Genkai who laughed at the situation any chance she got. Kurama and the others excused themselves to the living room, saying they had business to take care of. Genkai told her that apparently the group was a huge part of the Reikai Tantei, and in other words they were detectives/protectors. Nana could hardly believe anyone as malicious as Hiei could be a protector.

"He's cool but mean," Nana sighed, "I wish I was that strong and ruthless."

"The man throws you at a tree and you're suddenly his number one fan?" Genkai muttered, "As if he needs a bigger ego."

They had moved into one of Genkai's various rooms to discuss and both were situated on the wood floors. Nana had been staring at Genkai for the last ten minutes and she was pretty sure Genkai's temper was ten times worse than what it used to be. She averted her eyes towards the floor and bowed for the umpteenth time.

"I'm sorry." She said solemnly.

Genkai's eye twitched irritably, "STOP STARING AT ME."

"I'm sorry!" Nana yelped and stared at the floor again.

Genkai pursed her lips and lit her cigarette, keeping her eyes on Nana, who had begun wringing her hands.

"Sorry about the dimwit and his friends. They're a bit overly cautious these days." Genkai took a drag and then exhaled slowly, "They don't know you, they don't trust you. That's the motto."

Nana looked forlornly at Genkai, "I figured. But they didn't have to slam me into a tree."

Genkai let out a bark of laughter, "Hiei has his own style. You were bothering him, so he dealt with you the way he saw fit."

Nana lifted her fingers to her forehead as she fought back a twitch, "So he's just allowed to throw people around when he 'sees fit'?"

"Pretty much," Genkai answered nonchalantly, "Not like we can stop him,"

"Wha-," Nana seemed at a loss for words.

"I have to say, what a surprise seeing _you_ actually being thrown into a tree. Usually, you're more receptive to when you're annoying someone." Genkai smirked, "But I guess Hiei is kind of stubborn and hard headed. The problem with that situation is; so are you. How was my apprentice treating you?"

"He was a jerk!" Nana whined, "He hauled me around like I was a naughty pre-schooler."

Genkai's smirk grew as she gazed amusedly at Nana. Her smile dimmed somewhat as she tapped the end of her Cigarette.

"You haven't aged a day, I see." She said dryly.

Nana looked away, "Yeah… that's the point."

The conversation took a turn down awkward road. Nana pulled at her dress and took another deep breath.

"I like it here," She announced softly, "its quiet… and…nice. You're not bothered by the city here."

Genkai gazed at her for a moment before taking another drag of her cigarette, "That's not why you came here, I hope. To talk about scenery."

Nana felt the blood rush to her cheeks, "…No."

"You're still as weak and easy to read as ever," Genkai drawled.

"HEY!" Nana yelled indignantly, "I took a women's self defense class! That's good enough for me."

"You'll be killed if you don't start thinking seriously." Genkai reprimanded.

Nana looked down and exhaled slowly, "Enough on how weak and lowly I am. What have you got for me?"

………………………………………..

Turns out Yusuke hadn't actually bummed out and gone to piss his sheets and drink himself away into the night. Kurama inwardly sighed in relief. He had just wandered into the living room where Botan was waiting to debrief them. But not before he grabbed a Bruskey. Kurama eyed the drink in Yusuke's hand as Botan started speaking.

"Koenma figured out who the bomber was, however their location is unavailable at this moment." Kurama was surprised at the speed Koenma worked this time. Usually they'd just leave Yusuke and the rest of them to figure it out by themselves.

"Well, who is it?" Yusuke demanded as he took another sip from his beer.

Hiei was leaning against the far left wall by the door and his interest was peaked as well, no doubt his train of thoughts had wandered the same direction Kurama's had gone.

Botan brought out a manila folder and passed it to Yusuke.

"It's a woman, her real name is Asoka. However, if you address her by that most likely she won't answer."

"Why not?" Kuwabara asked as he kept an eye out for his sister and Yukina who were both in the kitchen preparing tea.

"She has multi-personality disorder?!" Yusuke yelled as he read over the contents of the folder. He had a brief flash of Sensui.

Botan nodded nervously, "That's right. So she could be anywhere, under any alias. And it's not like Sensui where these personalities existed within one man, she actually just destroys one personality and picks up another when she feels like it; so she's actually more mentally unstable."

Kurama marveled at the number of alias's the girl has listed. Each of them with their own look and personality.

Margret Cho- A blonde superhuman who had a weakness for 12 year old boys.

Lillian Vera- Brunette Lawyer with a fetish for robbing her clients.

Allegra Barret- Red haired Prostitute who killed her clients for valium.

Mellissa Thorton- Blonde Female Nurse; injected patients with heroine instead of an IV.

Kendra Milton- Sandy haired Schizophrenic actress; blackmailed her manager into giving her illegal drugs and then killed him.

Jean Hart- Professional Scarlett O'Hara impersonator; killed 18, left 4 in psychiatric care.

Kurama did a double take; did that say she was prostitute? He looked over at Kuwabara who looked like he was about to be sick. Yusuke's grip on the folder never changed, however his facial features showed how disgusted he was. Hiei was most likely reading Yusuke's mind, and if he was, he showed no indication that this affected him.

"This is disgusting," Kuwabara muttered slowly, "I'm really about to throw up."

Yusuke gave Botan a hard look.

"How could spirit world let anyone this psychotic roam around and not be arrested? Why hasn't anyone done anything?" Yusuke looked back down at the photo and almost cringed. It was a mug shot.

Asoka was a sandy blonde in the photo with purple lip stick smudging down her chin. She was smiling a nearly blinding 100 watt grin. Her eyes were completely black. It reminded him of a sharks smile. She was wearing a sequined green tube top and a frayed cowboy hat had been tilted to the side of her head. Her hands were in the picture doing a sailor moon reminiscent love sign. _In the name of the moon, I will punish you._

He looked back at Botan who was nervously wringing her hands.

"What's the plan?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Find her, kill her." Hiei stated, "Done."

"Don't underestimate her Hiei; she's avoided capture for years so she's obviously not going to be an easy take." Kurama scolded.

Hiei grunted from his position on the wall.

"What was her last Alias?" Kuwabara asked.

"Well, She was last seen calling herself Elisa Waldorf. However, we don't know what she's currently going by." Botan shuddered as looked to Kurama to see if he had come up with anything.

"You said she went East, Kuwabara?" Kurama questioned silently, Kuwabara nodded, "Then we should head that way. Kuwabara you and Hiei will be in charge of tracking her down tomorrow. Yusuke and I will devise an attack plan. Hiei, why don't you do some scouting tonight?"

Hiei pushed himself off the wall languidly and headed towards the door.

'_Try to be discreet_,' Kurama pleaded, '_Blend in and search. If she senses you, who knows what she'll do,_'

'_Hn_,'

They all watched as Hiei disappeared. Yukina and Shizuru came in the opposite door carrying a tea tray.

"My sweet Yukina!" Kuwabara instantly perked up. Yusuke and Kurama sighed.

"Kazuma," Yukina greeted with a small smile, "How are the plans coming?"

"Horribly, my dear," Kuwabara hung his head and grasped Yukina's hand as she set out the tea in front of him, "But nothing a gentle caress couldn't help!"

She laughed and patted his hand, "Kazuma, you are so strange. How could a caress help your plans?"

He sputtered and blushed as he muttered sweet nothings to himself, "Aw jeez, Yukina."

Shizuru took a seat next to Kuwabara and motioned for Yukina to do the same.

"So what's up with the Nana girl?" Shizuru asked, "She still talkin' to Genkai?"

They all looked at each other, "Uh…I guess." Yusuke replied, "Who cares. As soon as they're done maybe she'll move her ass out of here."

Yukina turned worriedly to Kuwabara, "What is it do you think they're talking about, Kazuma? They seemed very tense when we went to give them their tea,"

Kuwabara noticed how Yukina seemed worried over Nana. After Nana had come inside and blushed herself silly over Yukina, how could she not seem a little worried about the girl? It was clear Nana adored Yukina already. Kuwabara put his guard up inwardly, with the way that girl was smiling at Yukina; there was no way he'd leave her alone with her. Seems he's gained a rival.

While Kuwabara was waging an imaginary war, the others were being more realistic.

"Yeah, they were acting a little out of it," Shizuru inputted, "before we went in I heard them mentioning something about a target."

Kurama looked up, "Is she an assassin?"

"I _really_ don't think so," Yusuke deadpanned.

They all agreed.

"Is…-Is someone after Genkai?" Yukina asked hesitantly, "Maybe Miss. Nana is an informant."

"I don't think so," Shizuru sighed, "They were saying something about a binding and trying to uplift it."

Yusuke took another swig of his beer and contemplated that. A binding? Assassination? What the hell? That hag was way too old to get involved with any of that shit.

……………………………………

"So, what then?" Nana asked as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, "I've been everywhere but I can't seem to find it."

The two women had been talking for almost an hour now. There was no more sun and there was no more ungodly heat pressing against them like snakes coiling around their prey. Genkai silently thanked the gods for that, she was dying of discomfort and she also knew how much Nana despised being hot in tense situations. Genkai watched as Nana lifted a hand to her forehead in habit, using her bad circulation to her advantage to get rid of the heat her skin retained.

Genkai studied her closely and watched as the young woman fidgeted and was obviously frustrated, "I just- I don't understand," Nana whined quietly, "It doesn't move. It doesn't do anything. It just sits there on my wrist limply. I came to you for advice so help me!"

"Stop whining," Genkai demanded half heartedly and looked at the metal on the poor girl's wrist, "There has been no movement? None whatsoever?"

"None," Nana sighed, unhappily, "It's supposed to be detecting, but instead it just…"

She trailed off and glared down at her wrist.

"You asked for it," Genkai snorted.

Nana flicked her eyes moodily to Genkai, "It's not like I'm ungrateful," she ground out, "I'm just impatient."

Genkai almost scoffed, Nana sure was being a baby. Even now, after all those years she was still just as selfish and childish.

"For someone who's going to live forever, you should have all the patience in the world."

…………………………………………………………………………………

**Yusuke's liquor dictionary:**

**Yusuke:** **Beer (Budweiser). **. 1)_ Bland, flavorless alcohol delivery system that sells because of advertising. See also __**Zima**__, __**Wonder Bread**__, and __**Hamburger Helper**__. _

"_Don't tell me how good my beer is, okay? I know how good my beer is, because I'm the one who buys it, okay? When Bonnie goes to the store to buy beer, she buys Budweiser. When I drink my beer I want to taste it."_

_2) The cause of and solution to all life's problems! _

_-via Homer J. Simpson _

**Nana:** **Bourbon on the rocks**. _1) American whiskey made in Kentucky, not necessarily in Bourbon County (one of my favorites is made in Woodford county). Some say the limestone in the water in Kentucky gives the bourbon a distinctive taste. US Congress declared bourbon "America's Native Spirit" and its official distilled "spirit" in 1964._

2) The best drink if you feel like "gettin red" and you're a poor soul that can't get any moonshine. 

"_Baby, this bourbon makes you look HOT!!"_

In order to do a good rebel yell, you first have to lubricate your throat with a healthy dose of bourbon.

"It's not the shoes, it's the bourbon."

**Keiko:** **Wine. **_A beverage made from the fermented juice of various kinds of grapes. Contains 10-15 percent alcohol by volume.  
Nectar of the gods... _

_Wine- Merlot, Chianti, Zinfandel, Bourdeaux, Cabernet._

**Kurama:** **Martini**. _1.) A cocktail made with gin and vermouth and served with an olive _

"_Am I drinking too many martinis? Last week they found an olive in my urine sample." _

_2.) An alcoholic Irish heavy metal comedy badass with split personality disorder _

_In The Departed. "Matt Damon was a total martini in the departed." _

**Hiei:** **Goldshlager**_. (n)- Cinnamon schnapps liqueur (40%) with gold flakes. Rapid consumption results in inebriation and eventual disorientation which eventually leads to unconsciousness. Upon consciousness, causes one to realize they are in someone else's bed in A/B with their pants 1/2 off. At this point, friends help one up and one proceeds with puking. Then there is more disorientation, eventually leading to another state of unconsciousness. Later the next morning, it is realized that stolen furniture polish was thrown out one's window. _

**Yukina:** **Mojito**. _A Bacardi Rum drink made with spearmint leaves, rum, fizz water and ice. "Bartender, Gimme a Mojito...and yeah I ain't gay but I like my Mojito."_

**Kuwabara:** **Shrekarita:** _A _**_strawberry_**__**_margarita_**_ in a collectors' edition McDonald's Shrek-the-Third cup complete with green venti-sized Starbucks straw. _

"_Oh hell yeah, shrekaritas! We're getting fucked up!"_

**Shizuru: Captain Morgan: **_Spiced Rum. Makes you yak like crazy though. _

"_Got a little Captain in you?_"

**Genkai:** **Bloody Mary**. _A cocktail made from vodka, tomato juice, other spices, and a celery stick. Can also be used as a hangover cure. Recipe is:_

1.5 shots vodka  
2 shots tomato juice  
2 shakes Worcestershire sauce  
1 shake Tabasco  
dash of horseradish  
dash of salt & pepper.

Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in the vodka, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and tomato juice, and stir with a celery stick. Dash the horseradish, then shake on pepper and salt (if using low-sodium tomato juice). Use the celery stick you stirred with as garnish. 

_Guy: BARKEEP! Another Bloody Mary!  
Bartender: Damnit, Donnie, you've had 4 already, go home! _

**Botan:** **Pina Colada**. _A cocktail made with pineapple juice or pineapple chunks, coconut cream, and rum. Known for its sweet, easy-drinking taste that masks a sizable alcohol content (around 2 oz of rum per drink). _

"_Lisa made out with Chris after one too many Pina Coladas last night." _

**Koenma:** **Apple Martini**. _A drink that PaCMaN enjoys quite frequently. Also a drink that is known in the gay community, as a drink to give to your partner for a sure bareback session later that night._

1 part Absolut® vodka  
1 part DeKuyper® Sour Apple Pucker schnapps  
1 part apple juice

Poor all ingredients into a shaker. Shake well and strain into a Martini glass. 

"_Hey Earl, what say we both order up some apple martinis, I'm feeling a little frisky tonight?"_


	3. Gimme Sympathy

**Saw Sex Drive. Here are a few words to describe it: Hilarious, Oscar worthy, boobs, giant talking doughnuts, whassup, Amish, Pete Wentz. Yeah so, basically that's the entire movie. But it was AWESOME. Man, I am such a guy. I am the manliest woman I know. But it's whatever. **

**This chapter gave me hell. I would wander away from it, come back, write ferociously, then wander away again, then watch Lanipator's Yu Yu Hakusho abridged series, then go out with people, then wander back, then wander away, then wander back again. All the while reading epic fan fic's and Truman Capote quotes. So I'd really appreciate some feedback, just tell me what you think. I also read **_**Invisible Monsters**_** by Chuck P. and I decided to pay some homage to him so you might catch a bit of his style in here.**

**The chapter title kind of enforced CP's style, it was Metric's song, "Gimme Sympathy" which is really, really good. Just sticks in your head for (literally) days. I had actually planned for this chapter to be a lot longer, but…I got extremely lazy…and felt like it would be way too much for this one chapter and I was already cramming too much bullshit into it. Yeah, but then I went back and read it and nothing really major happens so I'm kinda pissed that the first half took up so much time. I really wanted the job search and Hiei mind games in this buuuttttt….Like I said, not enough time or space for a relatively okay chapter. **

**I have to credit for the definitions on fear. Also, the beginning is a little confusing, but I promise if you keep reading it might become clearer. Or something. Uh… Yeah.**

**Anyway, without further delay, please enjoy chapter three of **_**Bling: Confessions of a King**_**.**

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………**..**

_(908): bl l w  
(201): this should be fun to decipher. I'd like to buy a vowel._

_**-**__TFLN_

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………**..**

**Gimme Sympathy**

Nana looked down at her leg with a twitch of frustration. The blood splatter was mockingly unflattering as it began to seep into her borrowed jeans and she could feel the damp spots. She had a sudden flash of when Botan gave them to her and she had yelled out how ridiculous they looked and then the furious look Botan had shot her. Right now, looking into the eyes of a psychotic demoness; she wanted nothing more than Botan's angry face to come tearing after her for not appreciating common kindness.

The warehouse looked like it had been thrown up out of a Michael Meyers movie and spit on by _The Exorcist_. The walls were a dull white, with cracks running along random directions with boarded up windows. Nana felt the need to scrunch her nose and gag; it smelled like the three killer B's: Bleach, Beer, and Blood. The floors were a dull plaster with dark stains, at that Nana shuddered, and some sections looked like something had ripped away at it, leaving nothing but dirt and shredded bits of the remaining floor.

No one should know what happened here.

_Tap, tap, tap._ Nana looked up, alarmed, as her killer strode off to retrieve the fallen pistol, red heels clicking in a foreboding manner. Her eyes widened as the demon's voice echoed through out the warehouse.

"Ding Dong, the witch is dead! Ding Dong!" She sang, "Looks like little Dorothy ended up in the wrong Oz."

Nana swallowed hard and felt a skittish feeling erupt within her.

"At what point did the sidewalk end?" The demon bent forwards slowly and let her fingers splay across the gun.

_Fear_

–**noun**

A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

A specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: _an abnormal fear of heights._

Concern or anxiety; solicitude: _a fear for someone's safety_.

Reverential awe, esp. toward God.

That which causes a feeling of being afraid; that of which a person is afraid: _Cancer is a common fear._

Fear is a funny thing.

Old English fǣr, the ancestor of our word fear, meant "calamity, disaster," but not the emotion engendered by such an event. This is in line with the meaning of the prehistoric Common Germanic word fēraz, "danger," which is the source of words with similar senses in other Germanic languages, such as Old Saxon and Old High German fār, "ambush, danger," and Old Icelandic fār, "treachery, damage." Scholars have determined the form and meaning of Germanic fēraz by working backward from the forms and the meanings of its descendants. The most important cause of the change of meaning in the word fear was probably the existence in Old English of the related verb fǣran, which meant "to terrify, take by surprise." Fear is first recorded in Middle English with the sense "emotion of fear" in a work composed around 1290.

The notion of fear (where it came from, who bestowed it upon us, etc…) has been researched and analyzed for decades. Years, upon, years it has been torn apart, put back together, only to start all over again. The only answer that ever came to mind was this: Instinct.

And it was instinct that was raging through Nana's blood and pumping her limbs to move, run, _get away_; however it was this very same instinct that had her frozen in terror. Her instinctual urge to flee was overrun by her human urge to stay and be patient. Her stubborn mind could only squeeze out little drops of false hope that maybe, just _maybe_, on the off chance that Yusuke woke up on the heroic side of the bed and found the warehouse in time; that she would go with her life and limbs still in tact. And it was this naive thought that delayed her reaction to the immediate danger.

Nana longed for Yusuke to come swearing at her for disobeying him. She wished for Yukina's soft smile and Kuwabara's idiotic comments. She yearned for Genkai's Sarcasm and Shizuru's back lash. She pleaded for Kurama's quiet eyes. She screamed for Hiei's dark looks of contempt. She begged for Koenma to appear and tell her she was done chasing after no one.

"Little Dorothy wanted a lot of things," her captor purred.

She wanted anything but _this_.

Resisting the urge to scream out that she was going to get hell from someone for ruining their kindly loaned pants and that she didn't have any money to repay them; she suddenly averted her attention to the body that was twitching and straining their fingers towards her. Blood soaked out of the left socket freely from where the eyeball had been bashed in with the baseball bat; the fingers were splayed out in an open palm fashion in a desperate attempt for help; the lips were burned and beyond the point of recognition. The _thing_ made a groan in the back of its throat and slumped motionless. Not dead, but getting there. She felt a spike of fear seep into her blood and leaned back slightly against the warehouse wall behind her. Her legs started to shake and threatened to give out, however she somehow managed to stay standing. She felt the fire begin to creep into her blood stream and she was beginning to overheat.

Don't panic.

Burn.

He's dying.

Burn.

You don't know him.

Burn.

Give me commiseration.

Burn.

Give me family.

Burn.

Give me control.

Burn.

A flash of red entered her vision and as she looked up she saw Kurama positioned in front of her effectively hiding her form from the attacker. She tasted the acid in her throat from when she previously threw up mixed with the metallic taste of blood and sweat; she rubbed her hand across her mouth and pressed it firmly against her forehead to smother the heat. Relief surged through her body like an antidote and she felt her shoulders slump but the fire still continued like embers pulsing through her veins.

They found her. They found her. They found her.

A smile broke out across her face but as she looked around Kurama's shoulders she did not find what she was looking for. Where was Yusuke? Where was Kuwabara?

_Where was Hiei?_

They didn't come. She felt her smile slip away from her face slowly. They didn't come. They aren't _here_. She had expected them, waited with the glimmer of confidence that they'd show. Suddenly, the wall against her back felt a lot more solid. Looks like she really _wasn't_ worth the effort. And the only that came to save her had a fractured femur and could barely walk.

They were fucked.

She let out a short bark of dry humorless laughter and felt all her limbs grow heavy as her hands started shaking. How did she get here? In this place? In this situation? Asoka would rip Kurama and herself apart. She wasn't the strongest, but she was the craziest. She would cut off her left foot and barbeque it if it would help her skewer someone.

'_Oh God_,' she thought as her heart started racing, '_Is it selfish of me to be a little bit relieved that I'm not dying alone?_ _But Kurama doesn't deserve this… Please, someone help him_,'

She tried to convince herself that the others were coming and that, even if they would abandon her, they would never abandon Kurama. So they had to be somewhere near by looking for him! She gripped her arm in resolve, they _had to be here_. They absolutely had to.

Nana was panicking. She knew this. Kurama knew this. She didn't know where the others were but they must be doing something productive. She tried to grasp some handle on the situation but couldn't muster anything other than: the guys were held up. The warehouse walls were digging into her back as she moved to press herself closer, attempting to seep the chill from the wall onto her body. She moved her head slightly to catch the gleam in the murderer's eyes as she stared them down.

"Are you all right?" Nana heard Kurama ask her quietly.

His hands were poised for the fight that might ensue but his body was angled towards Nana ready to propel him towards her at a moments notice. She took in the small color of white in his pocket, noting that he had prepared for the worst. She took deep breaths and closed her eyes, ignoring the pain in her left leg and focused on keeping herself together. She re-opened her eyes and stared at the dying man whose life was quickly fading as the blood seeped out of him soundlessly in currents. The man's eyes glazed in and out of focus on her and she slammed her eyes back shut and thought of herself in his place… or Kurama.

_No_, she wanted to say, _I'm not and you wouldn't be either_.

"Yes," She croaked instead, "Yes, I'm all right."

He took this in impassively.

"Yusuke and the others are-," he didn't have time to finish as the east wall blew itself apart and in came charging the slick ass himself. He was flanked with Kuwabara and Hiei who was flicking the blood off his sword. Nana felt her eyes start to water as exhaustion took its hold. Yusuke didn't have to look at her to know she was traumatized. One look around the building and he could pretty much guess what happened, although once his eyes saw the chains and broken Bourbon bottles he wasn't so sure he wanted to know.

He and Kuwabara marched, more like stalked, slowly over in front her and Kurama; Hiei in tow. Kuwabara made glances behind him at Nana but her attention was lacking, and she never caught the winks he threw in her direction. Yusuke was stiff as a statue and made no move as his muscles tensed and un-tensed. She directed her gaze to Hiei and felt her heart clench at the mere sight of him. His black cloak was missing and from her vantage point he appeared menacing. She welcomed the sight and almost sighed in relief if it wasn't for the immense hate and pain she felt for him.

Hiei was a doubled edged sword on her entire being. One minute she hated him, the next she wanted nothing more than to smother him with need and attention. She mostly hated him. She didn't have time to dwell on this; she needed to get back into action_. _She needed to calm down and Hiei was definitely not calming her down. Just the sight of him made her breath catch. He was the one who was supposed to be always watching and he was the one who on this one day fucked up. Now four other people were dead and she was probably never going to recover from this. Even though she wanted to blame him and scream and kick and scratch, all she could do was cry in relief that he came back for her or Kurama or why ever the hell he did (though she was willing to bet her frontal lobe that he was here for Kurama) and hope he didn't throw her across a mountain for showing weakness.

'_Thank god, thank fucking god_,' she let the tears stream down her face as she struggled to stand.

Her head snapped up as Yusuke addressed her, his back to her and his eyes focused in on Asoka.

"Nana," Yusuke voice was low and firm, and she felt herself perk up at it; she was only happy that he was actually talking to her, "Stay against the wall and don't move."

Her eyes widened and she hesitantly took a deep breath, pressing even closer to the wall. Her shaking continued despite the fact that Yusuke had come rushing in as the late hero (as usual), and felt her eyes prick for the umpteenth time. She wanted to cry even more. He actually came. He would save her and Kurama and then they would go back to Genkai's, open a beer, and never talk about this again. She closed her eyes and tensed as more tears leaked out.

"_Goddamnit_ look at me!"

And she did. His shoulders were shaking, his hands kept flexing, and he was giving off a vibe that felt like he wanted to throttle her. Her eyelids fluttered and she noticed the burns all over him. _Yukina can fix that_, she assured herself, _they're not permanent_.

"Are you having a party over there?" Their killer smiled courteously and adjusted the straps on her blood soaked sun dress, "How rude. I thought I was the hostess."

Yusuke immediately growled murderously and glared at her.

Nana's eyes darted to Hiei again whose back was to her. She felt the bile rise in the back of her throat. He wasn't even acknowledging her. That might be best, she thought. She didn't know if she could handle hearing his voice right now. She was in bad enough shape as it is. She opened her eyes and thought about _why_ she was in this predicament. Her eyes screamed murder towards him and her breathing increased. Her fists clenched and her eyes stung.

_Where were you?_ She wanted to ask.

Her breathing morphed into now desperate gulps for air and her limbs were refusing to work right as her body slid towards the ground slowly. Just _him_ was enough to throw her into a panic attack, the very opposite of the effect Yusuke had on her, she wanted to chuckle at the irony. The cold plaster was a relief as it hit her thighs.

_How could you let this happen?_ She wanted to ask.

She gasped out instead, "I fucking hate you,"

He made no motion towards her or even gave any indication that he heard her, instead he and the others faced off against their killer. She felt her eyes prick at the oncoming tears as the hyperventilation took hold.

The demon's purple lips curved over her teeth in the perfect manner. Her hand formed a make believe gun, a hand sign Yusuke was overly familiar with. Her other hand, clutching the real gun, stayed steady by her side.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," She began as she moved her finger over each of the group, "Catch a tiger by its toe. If he hollers, let him go, eeny, meeny, miny…"

Her finger landed on Yusuke, "Moe."

Before Nana could see what happened after that, Kurama had already catapulted himself towards her, produced the inhaler from his pocket and shoved it at her mouth. His right arm was gripping her left shoulder and his left was holding the inhaler for her as her arms drove into his shoulders in blind panic. Her eyes screwed shut as she heard Yusuke and the others begin fighting.

Give me terror.

Burn.

Give me denial.

Burn.

Give me apologies.

Burn.

Kurama steadied her as she used the inhaler like a life line, tears streaming down her face. He moved his body to block out the battle and she only heard his voice as the screams started and she began to lose consciousness, "Nana, don't look."

Give me apathy.

Burn.

Give me anxiety.

Burn.

_Get me the fuck out of here. _

………………………………………………………………….

"_I didn't look._

_Of course I looked. __I looked so fucking fast I should of ended up wearing one of those neck braces for whiplash__."_

_House of Leaves, __by Mark Z. Danielewski_

………………………………………………………………….

**2 Months Earlier.**

Nana stared at Genkai as her lip twitched in annoyance. The old woman of 78 looked back at her with an amused smirk and took a sip of her tea. '_Smug bitch_,' Nana tried not to throw a fit as she took her hand off her forehead and pressed it onto the cold wood floor. She closed her eyes and took a calming breath, picturing kitties and butterflies and ponies. Anything that would keep her from losing her temper. She peeked through her lashes at Genkai; too late, Genkai's wrinkled twisted version of a smirk already had her riled up.

The night had completely fallen and all around the two women, they could hear the nocturnals enjoying the night life. Crickets chirped, mosquitoes buzzed, bats flapped. But there was also more to it than just nature having its party. Nana felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up from the energy coming off out from the forest and made a mental note never to go back there. Ever. Nana wasn't psychic, and she never did have any good sixth sense, but she could tell when danger was lurking; the forest was full of that shit.

She began running through different responses, hoping that one of them would be good enough to wipe Genkai's smirk right of her old hag face. She stopped herself short of doing or saying anything too childish and settled for just answering Genkai appropriately and politely. She turned her attention back to Genkai who was giving her a glare. Nana closed her eyes again and felt herself tense and un-tense.

"It's not like," Nana began with a pause and bit the inside of her cheek, "it's not like I'm immortal."

Genkai raised an eyebrow that said, _I know, bitch_.

Twitch.

Nana ignored it and went on, "This body can die, just…not from old age."

"How fortunate," Genkai muttered dryly, "Thanks for telling me what I already knew, idiot."

Nana sighed and rolled her eyes. Genkai was being her usual self. Obviously her true nature had not faded with age. She picked at the bracelet hanging on her right wrist and let it fall from her hand. Genkai watched the movement with mild curiosity.

"Unless I find it, I'll lose the Fumetsu. And then I _will_ stay in the afterlife, permanently." She groaned, "My deadline is coming up! I need you to, I don't know, at least point me in the right direction?"

Genkai rolled her eyes and stared at the wood floors in contemplation. In all the year's she's known Nana, her patience was never very good. Nana stuck out her tongue at Genkai when she thought she wasn't looking and Genkai internally sighed; but she was very good in the art of annoyance. Genkai traced an index finger along the wood making a dull scratching sound, thoroughly bushed. It wasn't that Nana wasn't bright or anything, she just had a knack for getting under people's skin; if she was a master of anything, it was wearing everyone around her out with her stubborn ass ways and hard mind set. Genkai could only imagine if Nana had actually taken fighting seriously, then maybe she'd actually be revered, instead of looked at like a small kitten.

Genkai forced herself back on the matter at hand as Nana shifted impatiently.

She watched as Genkai sifted through years of information gathered in her mind with anxiety. What would she do if even Genkai couldn't produce the answers? Go back to death? No, thank you! She could always travel north up to Hokkaido, where she could track down a psychic and convince him to help her out. She shook her head, she didn't want to be in Japan any more than necessary. The place was too…Smothering.

Genkai set her tea down and the thud caused a hollow echo to resound throughout the room. Nana felt a shiver run through her as she contemplated the odds that someone died in synch with that sound. Genkai regained her attention.

"The thing should have a somewhat…gravitational pull towards your intended target." Genkai started, "There isn't much I can do besides brainstorm some ideas. And even then that's just speculation, not the 'right direction' you're hoping for."

Immediately Nana's face fell and her shoulders slumped. Genkai shrugged.

"What am I supposed to do?" Nana whined as she made a face.

Genkai gave her a dry look, "I don't have all the answers."

Nana gave a small cry of outrage and slammed her hands onto the wood floors, making a loud 'SMACK!' Genkai eyed her with borderline disdain. '_I forgot how dramatic she was_,' Genkai thought to herself.

"Well, damn it all!" Nana yelled and pulled at her hair, "I didn't go to hell and back to have it end like this!"

She brought up a hand to her face and rubbed her temple. How frustrating this all was. First Avery blew up a telephone company, then Nana witnessed a man stab himself, then she was confiscated by a group of hooligans that called themselves the Reikai Tantei. What the hell did she do in a past life for karma to act like such a bitch?

"Oh please, you didn't even make it past the judgment gates, so I don't want to hear you yelling about hell and back." Genkai snorted and crossed her arms.

"Oh the place was just like it!"

"Hardly. You're just exaggerating. The gate was paradise compared to hell. Besides you weren't even going to hell, you were going in the opposite direction."

"Fuck you, Genkai, when you die _then_ you can lecture me."

"I already did die you nimrod!"

"When?" Nana asked suspiciously.

"The dark tournament, you twat!"

"WHAAATTT?!"

"You heard me."

"Whatever, I'm sure you got VIP treatment, you hag. All I got was a shove in the ass-,"

"And then a bracelet that lets you live forever. My _god_, you _did_ have it tough,"

"I did! Fumetsu came at a high price!"

"Shut up! You're just lazy and spoiled, that's the only reason you're still moaning on and on about how Spirit World somehow wronged you in doing their job!"

"I didn't want to be dead so-,"

"You bothered and annoyed them so bad they didn't want you anymore so they kicked you out."

"-I bartered and smartly schemed away the Fumetsu facing many tough times and hardships along the way."

"By hardships do you mean the tripping over yourself and house sitting?"

"SHUT UP! I DID NOT HOUSE SIT! I SCOUTED-,"

"And then watered all the plants and vacuumed for 30 bucks. Wow, you sure do reconnaissance better than anyone else I know. It sounds nothing like a soul reaper asked you to watch over their house for a week. You win this argument."

"That-that's not even how it went down!"

"Really?"

"…You old hag!"

Genkai sipped her tea nonchalantly, "Like I haven't heard that before."

Nana glowered at her from her seated position, "I hate you."

Genkai shrugged again and they both sat in silence. Genkai contemplating their next step and Nana contemplating murder.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" Genkai asked, as she set her tea down.

Nana looked down, "No," She answered softly and picked some imaginary lint of the end of her dress and then moved her hand to gesture to her suitcase, "Do I look like it?"

There was a moment of silence as Genkai weighed the Pro's and Con's of letting Nana stay in the same house as Yusuke. They were both incredibly hard headed, stubborn, and whiney. Most likely fights would result, and then head aches, and then pain, and then insurance complications.

Did Genkai _really_ want to go through all that? Especially after hearing the sneer in Nana's voice when she mentioned Yusuke, she wasn't sure it'd be safe. Nana would hiss and kick and scratch her little nails into Yusuke but she knew he could take it, meanwhile Genkai wasn't sure if Hiei would be as patient as Yusuke if he just so happened to cross paths with Nana; that scenario just might result in a little more than some scratches. God, Genkai almost groaned into her hands, did Nana have to be such an idiot and make enemies with the most dangerous people?

She looked up at Nana who was looking off to the side like nothing was happening or she wasn't putting a strain on Genkai's mental state. She sneezed into her hand and gave her palm a dirty look.

'_Damn it_,' Genkai answered herself.

She moved her eyes over the young woman and noticed she looked like she hadn't had a decent meal in a while, and her dress would most likely get her kidnapped and molested. (Not adult-napped, because Genkai wasn't sure she was ready to consider Nana an adult. Not with those cheeks and attitude). Genkai's eyes narrowed as she saw the dark circles under Nana's eyes; no doubt she hadn't had any sleep in the past week. Then the guilt began to nag at her and she twitched.

Well…She couldn't cause that much trouble. Yusuke mostly stayed inside his room drinking anyway, so it's not like she would just randomly run into him and start fighting. And Hiei would never go out of his way to purposely put himself in the same vicinity as Nana, so she really had nothing to worry about. Right? Genkai nodded to herself. It wouldn't be that bad.

What the hell?

Genkai sighed, "Your room is down the next hall, and it's across from Yukina's. Try not to bother her too much."

Nana beamed at her and jumped up hauling her suitcase down the hall. '_Not even a thank you_,' Genkai winced as she heard the suitcase veer off the porch and Nana's shrill yell as she scrambled to get it back in the temple. Shit, maybe this was a mistake.

Genkai called after her, "We'll pick this back up tomorrow!"

'_What an idiot_.'

…………………………………………

Yusuke rubbed his eyes tiredly and dragged himself towards his room. Today had been hell. Just complete and total hell. He felt like at any minute Satan would jump up from a crack in the floor and yell, "Surprise! We really _are_ fucking with you!" and then drag his sorry ass into the inferno. He suppressed a groan as he realized he had to go kick some psychotic demon's ass tomorrow and hung his head.

Could life be much crueler?

He saw Hiei walking towards him and gulped.

Yes. Yes it could.

He figured he had two options; 1.) He could swiftly duck into the next room, which had a high possibility of turning out to be a broom closet and thus humiliating himself and giving Hiei every right to kick his ass for trying to avoid confrontation or 2.) He would gnash his teeth and take it like a man.

Just as he was about to slide into the closet, Hiei slammed his arm out onto the wall paneling next to the closet and raised an eye at Yusuke.

"Looking for some Windex, Detective?" Hiei taunted, more than likely reading his mind.

_Shit_.

"Uh, Hiei," Yusuke greeted, suavely.

Hiei made no move to speak but instead wrinkled his nose at Yusuke and sneered, "You smell like that heathen," That was Hiei talk for, 'You fucking smell, go bath you gross-ass.' Yusuke sighed.

"Thanks for noticing," Yusuke muttered.

Ever since he had started drinking, Hiei had started looking at him _funny_. Their friendship was definitely a little rocky; basically it was only based on a mutual understanding between them: 'you don't get in my way with your alcoholic tendencies, and I won't get in yours with my murderous intent.' They just kick ass together, no pillow fights and sleepovers or anything. Not that either of them would do that anyway. They were both too cool for that sissy nonsense.

Yusuke suddenly thought of Puu and almost bashed his skull against the wall. Well, he liked to _think_ he was too cool.

"I found the demon," Hiei suddenly stated, Yusuke raised an eyebrow: oh so this conversation actually had a point.

"And?" Yusuke pressed, opting to lean against the cleaning supplies and unintentionally maneuvering the mop at an angle where the stringy end pieces fell across the top of his head. He wrestled casually with them for a moment, still trying to keep up his tough as nails leader persona in front of Hiei as he tangoed with the mop.

Hiei watched this with an irate expression.

"Detective," he addressed coldly, "When you're done playing, can you get back to this conversation?"

Yusuke threw the mop into the hallway with a growl of frustration and Hiei looked behind him at it and commented boredly, "nice."

"Well," Yusuke panted, thoroughly embarrassed that he was worn out from battling an inanimate cleaning object, "What did you find out?"

Hiei quietly assed him and brought out something from inside his cloak, "I found her unaware of her surroundings, inebriated, without undergarments, clutching this," He handed Yusuke an empty bottle of Jack Daniels and he noticed there was a slip of paper inside. Yusuke, without realizing it, keyed in on the "without undergarments" part of the sentence.

'_No panties?_' the thought flashed across his mind incredulously. Blasphemous!

If Hiei heard that he made no indication that he did. Instead he tapped the bottle with his index finger and gazed into the glass.

"I haven't opened it yet," He remarked, "I also tried reading her thoughts. Though, I had little success, her mind was a complete jumble. Like Kuwabara said, it was rather…"

Yusuke waited for Hiei to finish.

"Psychotic." He did so dryly.

"What was it like?" Yusuke asked.

"Mostly just disturbing sexual urges and the repeating notion to vomit or kill," he answered and screwed his face into his own disgusted look, "She mentioned something about a blow job,"

"That's…" Yusuke struggled for words, "Nasty."

"Hn,"

He looked down at the bottle and opened it like a pro with years of experience. He almost felt the need to smile sheepishly at Hiei until he realized that Hiei wasn't paying attention to Yusuke's alcoholic abilities.

That was one thing Yusuke hated about drinking; drinking makes everyone self conscious. You start wondering what people are thinking when they see you open a beer, or if they notice your shakes because you haven't had a margarita in a few hours. He usually brushed it off, but he just didn't want people to look at him like his reputation was completely shot (which it was). This by Yusuke's standards was really girly and cowardly. The two things Urameshi Yusuke absolutely hated. Maybe AA was a good idea…

Pondering over whether or not to go into rehab, Yusuke proceeded with the opening of the bottle.

He turned the bottle upside down and shook it for the folded slip of paper to fall out. He got a few drops of beer and debated quite seriously if he would lick the liquid off his fingers even in front of Hiei until he realized he had more pressing matters. He felt the damp paper hit his palm and he stared at it. There was a scribble on the side, a note to self almost that said, "don't forget, 20$ in back jeans: DO NOT LOSE." He flipped the paper over and saw an address, "2365 Oakland Apartments, Fourth and Third Avenue, room 5b,"

And then towards the corner was a small, cursive scribble and a sloppy smiley face beside it. His eyes widened as he felt apprehension creep up his spine.

"If you're ever in trouble, CALL ME! Love," his mind almost went blank and he for sure thought the taste of Bourbon was running down his throat, and he ached, "_Princess Nana._"

Both Hiei and Yusuke were quiet.

What. The. Hell.

It's only been a few hours and already they're fucking up the job? He'd like to say he was surprised, but he really wasn't.

That little monster was involved with Asoka? Nana. Asoka. Nana. Asoka. Yusuke's mind almost overloaded. The two knew each other. And she was in the temple?! Yusuke knew what this meant and what precautions they would have to take. The only questions were: why? And When? And How?

"How didn't we find this?" Yusuke asked as he looked up at Hiei who gave no reaction.

"She wasn't thinking about it," Hiei replied quietly, "I searched her mind and there was nothing about Asoka."

Maybe she had met her in passing, Yusuke reasoned, and Asoka was generally messed up enough for someone like Nana to stop and help out. And then she wrote her number down so if Asoka was ever in trouble she could call her. Nana, from what he saw, was just another ignorant, spoiled, little girl; there was no way she could know what Asoka is. They didn't have to jump to conclusions.

"We need to be careful," Hiei said suddenly, reading Yusuke's mind, "We'll jump to whatever conclusions we have to,"

Yusuke's brow furrowed. Hiei was right. They had a family to protect, albeit a little broken, but it was still _a family._

"Where is she?" Yusuke demanded in a low voice.

"Still with Genkai I'd presume." Hiei answered.

"_Where_ is she?" Yusuke demanded again, the undertone of a warning in his voice; it demanded more specifics.

Hiei almost growled at Yusuke's domineering attitude but instead settled for a steady glare as he used his Jagan to locate Nana.

Yusuke went through the possibilities of Nana being in league with Asoka. There was no way, he convinced himself; she was too small. He had felt her; she was too weak and helpless, Asoka would tear her apart within five seconds. '_But Asoka __**didn't**__._' he reminded himself, '_She __**did**__ come in contact with Asoka and she lived. And she's friends with Genkai. So she must have something about her. And she knows about demons, so she's not completely ignorant_.' Yusuke forced himself to think about the options. The actual possibility of her being that kind of fiend was slim. But looking at the facts…

Yusuke frowned as he saw Hiei's jaw tighten and eyes snap open in almost fury.

"She's in the spare bedroom," Hiei hissed.

"Uh, Which one?" Yusuke asked bluntly, taking a step back from Hiei's suddenly murderous air; bumping into the Mr. Clean as he did.

"The one across from _Yukina's_," Hiei bit out and then disappeared, leaving a bewildered Yusuke. He looked around the abandoned cleaning closet and drew a blank. '_Why is he so pissed?_' He asked himself as he examined the Mr. Clean eraser. So Nana was across the room from Yukina's-

Then the situation suddenly clicked and Yusuke hit his fist into his palm in revelation.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh…"

…………………………………………

Nana flopped down onto her bed in relaxation. A bed. Finally! She had been camping in the forest for the past week and her back was screaming in agony. And that asshole throwing her into a tree certainly didn't help these matters. She banished the thought from her mind, '_Sleep now. Be angry later_.' She sighed in contentment and pondered over what Genkai had told her.

"I guess for now I'm stuck here…" she smiled in contradiction to her tone.

'_Man did I miss Genkai_!' She sighed into the pillow and squirmed around in happiness as she took a good whiff of the woody smell that inhabited the temple.

There was no use denying it, she was definitely an indoor girl. Feeling the soft futon beneath her sore back was practically enough to bring her to tears. The last time she had slept in a bed had been at some nasty Motel in China. It smelled like soggy noodles and celery. She thought back to the argument she had gotten into with the manager. She had been in her Bullwinkle jammers and SpongeBob slippers as she as the Chink screamed profanities at each other at midnight, waking everyone in the entire goddamn neighborhood. Apparently there had been a problem with her credit card and since she didn't speak Chinese (which probably wasn't wise of her to go to China in the first place) they both had gotten frustrated quickly.

She liked Paris better; at least in France people loved each other. Obviously in China no body got the message that Bullwinkle and SpongeBob were loved by everyone and demanded that kind of affection. Instead all she got was a smelly room with a rotten mattress and nightmares of a Chinese Hitler.

Hitler brought on anger, and anger brought on demons that go by Hiei. Try as she might she couldn't stop herself from gritting her teeth and reliving the scene outside. Just what was the matter with that bitch ass? Obviously he was a demon, so number one that makes him crazy. When she saw him earlier on the path she knew he wasn't human, no human could disappear and beat them to the temple that fast. But just because he was a demon doesn't mean he could throw people around at whim. She clenched her fists, Damnit why hadn't she learned how to fight? At least then she could kick his ass.

And what had Genkai said about not being able to stop him? What's that supposed to mean? Genkai can kick anyone's ass, so Hiei shouldn't be any different. She stared at the wall, lying on her side. What makes Hiei so mighty?

'_Whatever,_' she huffed and buried her face into the pillow again, '_Stop thinking about that creep and get on with life, we'll never see him again. Probably_.'

She sat up and looked around the room curiously. It had wooden floors, and sliding doors. In fact, most of the temple was wood and chock full of sliding doors, so the fact that her room was no exception didn't really come as a surprise. Genkai never did have much fashion taste, Nana reminisced with a smirk. She saw the four candles in the four corners of the room and raised an eye brow. Creepy… Why did she have to get the guest room that looked like part of set for _Hocus Pocus_?

She stood up and walked around her room poking at things that caught her interest. She came to another sliding door and found it to be a small walk in closet, only 2 feet deep. She walked inside and stood there lamely for a moment, unsure of what to do next.

"Now what?" She asked aloud.

When no one answered her she decided to plop back down on the bed. She rolled over and pulled her suitcase towards her and started digging through it looking for her cell phone. She saw the flash of pink and smiled as she plucked it out from the tangled mess of her bra.

A flashing caught her attention, alerting her to a message. Her eyes widened as she called her voicemail and waited for the 'You have one new message' to sound.

"_Oooooiiiiii, Princesssss Nannaaaa_," The voice on the other end slurred, "_Where'd you gooo? I'm with these fine gentle- ham-men. Uhhh… I don't know what else to say…Call me back, little girl. OR I'LL EAT YOUR SOUL_."

Nana's eyes lit up and she smiled in mirth, "Avery," She mumbled to herself.

She giggled and pressed the phone to her lips. '_I wonder what she's doing_?' She pictured Avery's smiling face and grimaced, '_Then again, I probably don't want to know_.'

Just as she pressed the end button to disconnect her from her voicemail Nana snapped her head to the sliding doors as they flew open and in their wake stood a very dark and threatening Hiei. He stood there with both hands on each of the doors and glowered at her. She jumped, startled from her position on the floor and looked up at him with alarm.

His gaze went from murderous to slightly less. What the hell is he doing here?! She suddenly panicked, realizing he must have come in to slit her throat or throw her into another tree. What the fuck!? Did Genkai forget to mention that Hiei was a serial tree-thrower and just roamed the halls randomly looking for another victim?! '_Oh god, not another one!_'

She sat there for a minute day dreaming on the floor about Hiei's tree throwing killer techniques and how unstable a tree throwing killer must be. She suddenly saw him in the psychiatrist's office lying with his feet up and one arm flung over his stomach; the other flung over his eyes in the tortured soul manner. There was a fern in the corner of the room.

"I just- I can't control it," He would gasp out from underneath his arm, on the verge of tears, "My emotions just cause me to throw-," he would stumble on his words here, "people into trees!"

Then his shrink would pet his grey goatee and adjust his square glasses over the bridge of his nose, his name might be Dr. Harold, or Dr. Hibiscus; he would say, "How does that make you feel?"

"Horrible!" Hiei would cry.

"I believe this problem of control stems from your childhood where your drunken father, who couldn't pay rent and forced both you and your mother and several other unidentified foster brothers and sisters to live in a refrigerator box outside the Pizza Hut next door, decided he didn't want you anymore and left to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional baseball player," The doctor's analysis would be right on, causing Hiei to sob with the realization of the truth.

"Papa!" Hiei would sob, "I wish you loved me!"

"Dry your tears, Hiei," The shrink would suddenly take off his glasses, "Your father does love you."

"How do you know?!" Begged Hiei as he searched his own soul for the answers.

"Because Hiei," The shrink suddenly clutched Hiei's hands in his own, "I _am_ your father!"

What a great twist, Nana thought as she continued to make up a whole new identity for Hiei.

She then remembered that he was standing in front of her. '_OH SHIT_!' She thought as she flinched and threw up her hands in front of her head to protect her face from his vicious onslaught. She whimpered, but when nothing happened she unclenched her eyes and peeked hesitantly at Hiei. He was just standing there, looking blankly at her. She blinked at him before following his path of vision…to her hands.

Suddenly understanding hit. Hard. An awkward silence had settled over the room and decided to kick back and stay for a while. Nana wished she could stab the bitch named awkward and leave her for dead.

"Uh…" She looked down at her phone in her left hand and her red lacy bra in the other, "This isn't what it looks like."

They both jumped at the voice that came screaming after them.

"HEY HIEI!" The detective's voice rang throughout the halls, "I know you're worried about Yukina but goddamn way to leave a guy in the dark! Literally! That closet was dark and-,"

Yusuke's form stood alongside Hiei's and the words suddenly died in his mouth. He saw Nana and immediately his face burned in embarrassment.

"Uh…" he held up his hands in front of him, "That isn't what it sounded like."

When no one moved he looked at them both confusedly. Hiei was looking away from Nana off to the right and Nana was just sitting in shock. He was about to ask what was going on when he finally caught sight of Nana's hands.

'_It's…_' His mind stuttered, '_it's-it's…lacy…_'

There were only a few moments in Yusuke's life where he was rendered absolutely speechless. Now was added to that short list.

He couldn't look away; He knew it was the right thing to do, to just look away and be polite and _not stare_. But he was frozen in place as his eyes burned holes into that bra. He was honestly surprised it hadn't spontaneously combusted into flames yet. He should move, he thought to himself, he should just walk, walk and keep walking as if this never ever happened. His mind was screaming for him to run and never come back and just leave it all to Hiei, but his body was frozen in astonishment.

There was a fuckin' red lacy bra dangling from some girl's hands: WHO WALKS AWAY FROM THAT!?!

Him. _'I do. MEEEEE_.' He tried to convince himself, '_MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I walk away! I'm a shitty person, but I'm not shitty enough to violate this poor girl's personal privacy_!'

Meanwhile Nana had other thoughts.

'_Kill me. Kill me. Kill me. Kill me_.'

She was too traumatized to move. She just could not believe her luck, she has been caught red handed (literally) fingering her own bra. And now they probably think she was having phone sex. She gulped and felt 99 percent of the blood in her body flood her cheeks as if a dam just broke.

And as if the situation couldn't get any more awkward, they suddenly heard the door outside of Nana's room slide open. Hiei froze.

Oh. _No_.

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no_. Not this. Anything but this.

The soft footsteps behind him ripped Yusuke out of his stupor and he felt Hiei go still as a statue next to him. Nana's mouth fell open in disbelief making an :O face. The picture of a Mojito entered his mind and only one thought flashed across his being.

'_Oh. __**Shit**__. Hiei. Is. Going. __**To kill me**_.'

"What's going on here?" The soft voice behind them asked.

Nana's head, already redder than a tomato, got even redder. When no one answered, Yukina frowned and stepped closer to the boys, moving to see over their shoulders. Both the men squared their shoulders and set their jaws preparing for the worst.

"Uh… Hey…Yukina…" Nana tried in a high squeaky voice, "You're _probably_ wondering why I'm, you know…Holding my bra…"

Yukina just stared. And stared. And then came forwards, pushing the boys slightly out of the way. She came to a stop in front of Nana and then bent down.

"Is that real lace?" She asked innocently as she fingered the material.

…………………………………………

20 minutes.

It had only been 20 minutes since the incident and here he was back in the same hallway staring at the same door.

Hiei felt his cloak shift as he sat down and let his head hang. This settles it. He was _never_ going to tell Yukina he was her brother. Not after that stunt; why would she want a brother who she suspects of lechery? Not to mention the fact that he's a bloodthirsty demon, but _damn_. Staring at a human girl's bra was ten times more shameful then murdering for power. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

'_I've got to stop thinking about it_,' He chided himself, '_I'm only making it worse_,'

His thoughts drifted back to the note Asoka left in the bottle. He had to somehow get answers from this Nana girl. He stared at the human's door in hate. There was no way in hell he was letting her stay this close to Yukina without him watching her every move like a guard dog. He heard her rustling under her blankets and his eyes narrowed. He could hear Yukina's soft breathing, alerting him that she had indeed fallen asleep; however this human was still wide awake.

If she was a spy, then he would kill her. If she wasn't a spy, then he would kill her. Decision made.

He heard her roll over and his back stiffened. Asoka was not taken lightly, he reminded himself as he thought back to when he first glimpsed her.

She had been lying in a pool of her own vomit with a bunch of unconscious human men. It had been truly disgusting. The warehouse she had situated herself in had been something out of one of those human horror movies, the walls were painted red with blood and the floor was beyond recognition. However he glimpsed the many encasements of alcohol. The smell was soothing to him; it smelled of murder. For a moment he felt at home, until the sharp stench of bleach reached his nose and he had recoiled from the scene.

How amusing, he thought darkly, feeling at home in that dreadful place.

Although, he admitted, the way she lived was not…unappealing. He could do it with more honor, yes, no question about that, but it wasn't totally barbaric as the detective had implied. Yes, it was disgusting; however, had it been in a palace in the Makai: it would have been heaven.

Hiei shook his head and rid himself of those thoughts immediately. He had to keep reminding himself that Asoka was bat out of hell crazy and that normal honest to good people don't live like that. He suddenly smirked; too bad he was a _demon_.

Nana yawned and he flicked his eyes back to her door in contemplation. If Asoka was as buck wild as she seemed, what would she be doing with the likes of some little girl?

…………………………………………

Nana lay in bed staring at the ceiling with blank eyes.

Did…that really just happen? Seriously? She rubbed her eyes and ran a nervous hand through her hair. Not only had two young men invaded her privacy but also the most innocent creature in the temple walks up and gropes her underthings.

'_What is my life coming to?_' She bleakly asked the ceiling.

Needless to say, it didn't respond.

Nana rolled onto her side and pulled the covers up over her head in shame. She shivered despite the comforter and burrowed more securely into her blankets. It felt like something was lurking outside her door; something dark and ill-omened. Just looming out there like it owned the goddamn hallway. She bit the inside of her cheek and felt the sweat roll down her neck. Warning lights went off in her head as she felt it begin to move.

'_It feels the same as the forest_,' She grimaced, '_Only…much worse_,'

She could feel it stalking back and forth through the hallway like a mad man. It would pause for a few minutes, until it resumed its steady pacing. It was rather annoying, she frowned, is this how all those psychics feel _all the time_? How do they do it? Feeling everyone's energy all around them all the time… She felt a sudden spike of nostalgia as the pacing reminded her of a father racing back and forth in the hospital, waiting for a new born baby. She almost slapped herself, '_Yeah right, a new born baby of the underworld! Jesus Christ, the thing feels like death itself_!'

The pacing once again paused and the ominous air grew even more threatening.

Nana gulped and made a fist into the blankets. This was going to be a long night.

…………………………………………………………..

_A woman exhaled and the other occupant in the room watched passively as the smoke whirled past the woman's red painted lips, "Is this war?"_

_They were in a round navy room. Blue and teal beaded cushions sparkled off the lamp lights and the floor was littered with gold glitter and Recipe books. Everything sparkled and glinted with Persian accents. There was a golden Cheshire cat glinting on a shelf in the corner of the room._

"_What do you think?" came the bored reply._

_The woman stared with a dull lolling of the head as the white powder on the table seemed to blend in with the smoke. Her companion stood up suddenly and her chair screeched back with the quick movement. Black shark eyes followed her friend's quickly retreating form out of the small space._

_The young girl turned and gazed upon the woman with a face of ferocity, her small hand poised on the knob of the door._

_The woman remained seated and crossed her legs, torn pantyhose stretching with the movement. She leaned forwards and let her head drop with a hollow thud onto the table; her cigarette fell onto a paper on the floor, igniting the recipe in flames. Her lips moving as she continued to snort the powder, ignoring the slow burning by her ankles. _

"_Actions define us all, but it is speech that ultimately destroys us."_

…………………………………………………………..

**Yusuke's liquor dictionary:**

**Yusuke:** **Beer (Budweiser). **. 1)_ Bland, flavorless alcohol delivery system that sells because of advertising. See also __**Zima**__, __**Wonder Bread**__, and __**Hamburger Helper**__. _

"_Don't tell me how good my beer is, okay? I know how good my beer is, because I'm the one who buys it, okay? When Bonnie goes to the store to buy beer, she buys Budweiser. When I drink my beer I want to taste it."_

_2) The cause of and solution to all life's problems! _

_-via Homer J. Simpson _

**Nana:** **Bourbon on the rocks**. _1) American whiskey made in Kentucky, not necessarily in Bourbon County (one of my favorites is made in Woodford county). Some say the limestone in the water in Kentucky gives the bourbon a distinctive taste. US Congress declared bourbon "America's Native Spirit" and its official distilled "spirit" in 1964._

2) The best drink if you feel like "gettin red" and you're a poor soul that can't get any moonshine. 

"_Baby, this bourbon makes you look HOT!!"_

In order to do a good rebel yell, you first have to lubricate your throat with a healthy dose of bourbon.

"It's not the shoes, it's the bourbon."

**Keiko:** **Wine. **_A beverage made from the fermented juice of various kinds of grapes. Contains 10-15 percent alcohol by volume.  
Nectar of the gods... _

_Wine- Merlot, Chianti, Zinfandel, Bourdeaux, Cabernet._

**Kurama:** **Martini**. _1.) A cocktail made with gin and vermouth and served with an olive _

"_Am I drinking too many martinis? Last week they found an olive in my urine sample." _

_2.) An alcoholic Irish heavy metal comedy badass with split personality disorder _

_In The Departed. "Matt Damon was a total martini in the departed." _

**Hiei:** **Goldshlager**_. (n)- Cinnamon schnapps liqueur (40%) with gold flakes. Rapid consumption results in inebriation and eventual disorientation which eventually leads to unconsciousness. Upon consciousness, causes one to realize they are in someone else's bed in A/B with their pants 1/2 off. At this point, friends help one up and one proceeds with puking. Then there is more disorientation, eventually leading to another state of unconsciousness. Later the next morning, it is realized that stolen furniture polish was thrown out one's window. _

**Yukina:** **Mojito**. _A Bacardi Rum drink made with spearmint leaves, rum, fizz water and ice. "Bartender, Gimme a Mojito...and yeah I ain't gay but I like my Mojito."_

**Kuwabara:** **Shrekarita:** _A _**_strawberry_**__**_margarita_**_ in a collectors' edition McDonald's Shrek-the-Third cup complete with green venti-sized Starbucks straw. _

"_Oh hell yeah, shrekaritas! We're getting fucked up!"_

**Shizuru: Captain Morgan: **_Spiced Rum. Makes you yak like crazy though. _

"_Got a little Captain in you?_"

**Genkai:** **Bloody Mary**. _A cocktail made from vodka, tomato juice, other spices, and a celery stick. Can also be used as a hangover cure. Recipe is:_

1.5 shots vodka  
2 shots tomato juice  
2 shakes Worcestershire sauce  
1 shake Tabasco  
dash of horseradish  
dash of salt & pepper.

Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in the vodka, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and tomato juice, and stir with a celery stick. Dash the horseradish, then shake on pepper and salt (if using low-sodium tomato juice). Use the celery stick you stirred with as garnish. 

_Guy: BARKEEP! Another Bloody Mary!  
Bartender: Damnit, Donnie, you've had 4 already, go home! _

**Botan:** **Pina Colada**. _A cocktail made with pineapple juice or pineapple chunks, coconut cream, and rum. Known for its sweet, easy-drinking taste that masks a sizable alcohol content (around 2 oz of rum per drink). _

"_Lisa made out with Chris after one too many Pina Coladas last night." _

**Koenma:** **Apple Martini**. _A drink that PaCMaN enjoys quite frequently. Also a drink that is known in the gay community, as a drink to give to your partner for a sure bareback session later that night._

1 part Absolut® vodka  
1 part DeKuyper® Sour Apple Pucker schnapps  
1 part apple juice

Poor all ingredients into a shaker. Shake well and strain into a Martini glass. 

"_Hey Earl, what say we both order up some apple martinis, I'm feeling a little frisky tonight?"_


End file.
